What format are satellite DVR recordings stored in?

This question comes up now and again. I generally start by answering a question with a question. I say, “Why are you asking?”

I’m guessing it’s because you’re the sort of person who just enjoys knowing things and not because you’re trying to open up your DVR, copy the files off it, and play them on your computer. Because that would be against your customer agreement, and we don’t talk about that sort of thing on this blog. Both DIRECTV and DISH use a lease model that strictly prohibits you from opening up the equipment.

So let’s agree it’s just for entertainment value. You’re just the sort of person who gets value from knowing things. I get it, I’m the same way.

Here’s the story

The files on your DIRECTV or DISH DVR are stored in the same MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 transport stream that’s used when they come from the satellite. The file formats are not terribly different from DVD and Blu-ray disc files, really. Most satellite transmissions use plain old MPEG-4 TS format with H.264 encoding That’s not what makes them special. The special part is the multi-step encryption that’s needed to decode them.

With DIRECTV DVRs, the files are encoded not only at the source but also with the individual ID number of the receiver. It may not be impossible to crack the encryption, but no one’s done it yet. With DISH, I suppose it’s “theoretically” a little easier since the recordings are not inexorably tied to the receiver, but it’s still so tightly coded that no one’s cracked it.

Yeah but what if you…

If you were to open up your DIRECTV DVR — and you should not do this — and mount the drive on a computer capable of reading a Linux-formatted disk, you’d find a fairly predictable file structure and you’d find many large files that are very obviously recordings. They’re not labeled “NCIS” and “America’s Got Talent” because that’s just not how DIRECTV does stuff. But it’s going to be obvious that they’re video files because they’re just so darn big. You could, theoretically, copy them to your hard drive…

…and then nothing would happen. You couldn’t play them, you couldn’t use them in any measurable way, they would just be sitting there taking up space. That, my friends, is the miracle of encryption.

Why go to this much trouble?

Well, the satellite companies go to this much trouble because they want to make promises they can keep. In order to get those contracts with companies like Disney and Discovery, they have to promise that it’s reasonably difficult to pull digital copies right off the hard drive. A lot of that thinking dates back 20 years before streaming was easy, and before you could find a lot of what you’re looking for on the web already if you just look. But, this kind of encryption keeps everyone happy, so it stays.

One more thing

Another reason people ask questions like this is because their old DVR has started to misbehave. If you’ve got some equipment that’s teetering on the edge, find out what you can do about it! Call us at 888-233-7563 to discuss the next steps. Who knows, you might get new equipment for no cost! Call us during East Coast business hours. If it’s after hours, fill out the form below. We’ll get back to you, usually within one business day.

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.