DVB-T + DAB +FM - Software survey

 Bought an el-cheapo Digital TV (DVB-T) USB stick which also has Digital Radio (DAB) and FM Radio - what more could I ask for?

Actually I would ask for an actual software to come with that. As with all things in Ebay, there is a reason why they are cheap. The advertisement itself shows nice and flashy TV pictures on a software. It's only in the fine print of the Package contents that says the software is a Trial Version. I did read that in the ad, but subconsciously put that aside. So now, I'm left with a USB stick with drivers installed but nothing to play with. I don't think I want to touch Windows Media Center, though I guess that is an option to some people.

So the point of this post is to collect and comment of my research on the software that can work with the newly acquired DVB-T stick. Here goes..... (perhaps starting with the paid software, then saving the best free ones for last).

DVB Viewer - http://www.dvbviewer.com/en/index.php?page=features

Cost around 20Eu - which is not a bad price. However there are paid add-ons such as Media Server add-on and Video Editor add-on. On Screenshot pages shows it looks very professional. The Features pages is very comprehensive and also list a lot of TV cards that it supports. Unfortunately mine is a generic brand and I don't expect to find it on the list. The payment is by bank transfer and you put the description of the bank transfer as DVBViewer + email. So it feels quite old school and an independent developer (not a commercial company), and this is one of the positive point for me.

AltDVB - https://www.videohelp.com/software/ALTDVB

Looks like it is free and is under active development, since the last update at the time of writing is May 2021. It's meant to work with DVB-S (Satellite, meaning worldwide signals are available. The T in DVB-T stands for Terrestrial, meaning the local stations). It's 11Mb, its portable, and it has a whole list of Changelog and Release notes. It has its own YouTube subscription channel to explain how to use it.

ProgDVB - https://www.progdvb.com/progtva_download.html

There is a paid version with the title name and there is also a free version called ProgTV. The free version won't support recording and is around 11Mb. It's supposed to let you watch digital TV and listen to radio channels. The paid version supports IPTV, DVB-S/S2, DVB-C (cable) and more.

Media Portal - https://www.team-mediaportal.com/mediaportal/about-mediaportal

This looks like a very complete media center - a full fledged solution. So its ability to play DVB-(C/S/T) is almost drowned out by all the other features. Incredibly, it's not only free but it's open-source too. When it comes to popular software that non-technical people use and download, there is generally a risk of using Free software on the internet. However when a software is open source, like Media Portal, the risk is reduced because the source code is available for the world to see. (this is a general statement about truly open source software and it is not an assessment of the security and safety of using Media Portal). Only drawback is that some DAB (digital radio) functionality may not be fully supported yet.