TV-Connected Tablo DVRs &
How They Work

How TV-Connected Tablo DVRs Work

Unlike our network-connected OTA DVRs, TV-connected Tablo DVRs send video directly to your television set via an HDMI cable.

Enjoy your favorite live or recorded Over-the-Air TV shows via Tablo’s beautiful easy-to-use interface and included remote control without the need for a separate streaming device or app.

TV-connected Tablo DVRs also offer the flexibility to stream live and recorded TV to additional televisions within the home via select streaming devices and Smart TVs with an active TV Guide Data Service subscription.

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What You Need to Use Tablo 

To set up your TV-Connected Tablo OTA DVR you need:

Tablo TV-Connected DVRs what you need

To watch Tablo content on additional TVs within your home, you'll need an active TV Guide Data Service subscription, a strong home WiFi network and one of these:

  • A Smart TV powered by: Roku, or Amazon Fire TV, or Android TV OR
  • A Set-Top-Box/Streaming Media Device: Roku, or Amazon Fire TV, or Chomecast with Google TV, or Nvidia SHIELD

New Tablo IR Remote Control

With your simple, purpose-built Tablo remote, you can quickly browse the live TV grid to see what's on, set your favorite programs to record, and even control the power and volume on supported TVs.

Plus, you can use these built-in power-user shortcuts:

  • Just Press Play for Live - Skip secondary menus and start playback of the selected channel in the live TV grid by hitting PLAY instead of OK

  • Just Press Play for Recordings - Skip secondary menus and start playback of an individual recording or a series of recordings by hitting PLAY instead of OK

  • FFWD & REW Through Menus - Use the FFWD & REW buttons to quickly navigate through menus including the Live TV Grid Guide, Recordings, and more 

 

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TV-Connected Tablo DVR-Compatible Streaming Devices

Overview Technical
Considerations
Roku Amazon
Fire TV
Android TV Unsupported
Devices

TV-connected Tablo DVRs are designed for cord cutters who primarily watch programming on a single television.

However, once set up on your main television, streaming to a limited number of secondary televisions within the home is supported via:

  • Roku set-top-boxes and Smart TVs
  • Amazon Fire TV set-top-boxes and Smart TVs
  • Android TV streaming devices and Smart TVs

Depending on quality of your home network, TV-connected Tablo DVRs can stream to up to 2 compatible devices (for Tablo DUAL HDMI) or 4 devices (for Tablo QUAD HDMI) at the same time.

*This feature requires an active TV Guide Data Service subscription.

TV-connected Tablo DVRs deliver and record Over-the-Air TV in its original, uncompressed MPEG2 format.This creates bandwidth-heavy streams of up to 18 Mbps.

To deliver this video without buffering over WiFi, a strong home network is required.

For the best experience, connect your Tablo and/or your streaming devices/Smart TVs to your network via Ethernet where possible.

Once your TV-connected Tablo DVR is set up, you can access your Tablo on secondary TVs powered by Roku. 

Simply download the free Tablo app on your Roku-enabled Smart TV or streaming set-top-box, connect to your Tablo, and enjoy watching Tablo content in another room.

TV-connected Tablo DVRs support the following Roku devices:

  • Roku Ultra (all model years)
  • Roku Ultra LT (all model years)
  • Roku-enabled Smart TVs (all brands)

NOTE - Roku streaming sticks are not recommended for use with Tablo TV-connected DVRs. 

Once your TV-connected Tablo DVR is set up, you can access your Tablo on secondary TVs powered by Amazon Fire TV. 

Simply download the free Tablo app on your Fire TV-enabled Smart TV or streaming set-top-box, connect to your Tablo, and enjoy watching Tablo content in another room.

TV-connected Tablo DVRs support the following Amazon Fire TV devices:

  • Amazon Fire TV Cube (all model years)
  • Fire TV-enabled Smart TVs (all brands)

NOTE - Amazon Fire TV streaming sticks and older model set-top-boxes are not recommended for use with TV-connected Tablo DVRs. 

Once your TV-connected Tablo DVR is set up, you can access your Tablo on secondary televisions powered by Android TV. 

Simply download the free Tablo app on your Android TV-enabled Smart TV or streaming set-top-box, connect to your Tablo, and enjoy watching Tablo content in another room.

TV-connected Tablo DVRs support the following Android TV devices:

  • NVIDIA SHIELD PRO (all model years)
  • NVIDIA SHIELD TV (all model years)
  • Chromecast with Google TV (2020)
  • Android TV-enabled Smart TVs (all brands)

NOTE - Older model Android TV streaming devices like the Xiaomi Mi Box or Google Nexus player are not recommended for use with TV-connected Tablo DVRs. 

Due to technical limitations, TV-connected Tablo DVRs cannot be accessed via:

  • Apple TV
  • Smartphones or tablets
  • PC/MAC
  • Smart TVs powered by Samsung TIZEN or LG WebOS
  • Xbox

If streaming to these types of devices is important to you, consider a network-connected Tablo DVR instead. 

Beautiful HD Picture Quality

better quality hd picture

Cable operators compress their TV signals to conserve bandwidth in order to deliver multiple services (phone, TV, and internet) over a single connection. Over-the-Air (OTA) HDTV signals received through antennas are uncompressed, delivering an incredibly crisp HD picture, far superior to what you've been getting from your cable provider.

Best of all, because content is being delivered via your Over-the-Air antenna instead of an internet connection, you can watch as much TV as you want at home without impacting your internet datacap.

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TV-Connected Tablo DVR FAQs

TV-connected Tablo DVRs are designed for cord cutters using TV antennas to access local Over-the-Air broadcast TV programs on a primary TV screen. With Tablo you can browse, watch, and record that great free TV content on your schedule. 

Yes! As their name suggests and unlike our network-connected OTA DVRs, TV-connected Tablo DVRs like the DUAL HDMI and Tablo QUAD HDMI offer a more traditional set-top-box-style DVR setup which sends video directly to your television set via an HDMI cable.

This lets you enjoy your favorite live or recorded HDTV content via Tablo’s included remote control and beautiful, easy-to-use interface without the need for a separate streaming device or app.

TV-connected Tablo DVRs provide a traditional set-top-box-style DVR experience for cord cutters who use an Over-The-Air (OTA) antenna to watch live, local TV.

Simply connect your antenna to Tablo, your Tablo to your TV via HDMI and to your home network via WiFi or Ethernet, add a USB hard drive to the Tablo for storage, and you're ready to watch and record local broadcast TV.

When you buy a TV-connected Tablo OTA DVR we include the Tablo DVR, a Tablo remote, two AAA batteries for the remote, an HDMI cable, an ethernet cable, a power adapter, and a Quick Start Guide.

Every Tablo OTA DVR also comes with a free 30-day trial of the Tablo Guide Data Service so you can try out some of the cooler features Tablo has to offer. 

To set up your TV-connected Tablo OTA DVR you need:

 

If you'd also like to watch Tablo content on additional TVs within your home, you'll need a strong home WiFi network, an active TV Guide Data Service subscription, and one of these:

  • A Smart TV powered by: Roku, or Amazon Fire TV, or Android TV OR
  • A Set-Top-Box/Streaming Media Device: Roku, or Amazon Fire TV, or Chomecast with Google TV, or Nvidia SHIELD

TV-connected Tablo OTA DVRs offer a more traditional DVR setup. DVRs like Tablo DUAL HDMI or Tablo QUAD HDMI connect directly to your television while at the same time provide the powerful and yet easy-to-use DVR interface that Tablo customers know and love. TV-connected DVRs are designed for cord cutters who primarily watch programming on a single television.

On the other hand, network-connected Tablo DVRs don’t connect to your television at all. Instead they connect to your home’s WiFi router to distribute live and recorded TV to multiple internet-connected devices like Smart TVs, streaming boxes and sticks, smartphones, tablets, and computers.

While TV-connected Tablo OTA DVRs are designed for cord cutters who primarily watch programming on a single television, they do enable streaming to a limited selection of internet-connected devices within the home with an active TV Guide Data Service subscription. 

Depending on the quality of your home network, TV-connected Tablo DVRs can stream to up to two (for the Tablo DUAL HDMI) or four (for the Tablo QUAD HDMI) compatible Smart TVs or streaming set-top-boxes at the same time.

They are not compatible with existing Tablo apps for computers, smartphones, tablets, Apple TV, or select Smart TVs. 

YES! Since TV-connected Tablo DVRs feature an IR (infrared) sensor on the front of the device, it can receive and detect commands from other IR-enabled universal remotes and remotes from several TV brands

All Tablo OTA DVRs come with a free 30-Day trial of Tablo's TV Guide Data Service subscription.

Tablo's TV Guide Data Service subscription provides the beautiful cover art, episode and series synopses, and metadata that makes it easy for you to browse content and set recordings on your Tablo. A subscription also enables some of Tablo's cooler features like in-home streaming to secondary TVs. After the first 30 days, you can choose to subscribe and continue to enjoy the benefits of a TV Guide Data subscription.

Learn more and get pricing on our Tablo TV Guide Service subscription page.

No. Tablo is designed to record and stream Over-The-Air (OTA) broadcast signals from ATSC TV antennas. We do not support recording from cable or satellite signals, cableCARDs, or clear/unencrypted cable (QAM).

No. Legal and technical reasons prevent Tablo from recording content from sources other than an ATSC digital TV antenna. You can read more about this on the Tablo blog.

In general, those in major urban centers in Canada and the United States can expect to receive many free HDTV channels Over-the-Air including most major networks. The quality of your OTA TV reception is based on your proximity to local broadcast towers, the type of antenna you're using, and its location (indoor, outdoor, height off the ground, direction). Consult our Antennas and OTA reception page for more information and to find out what channels are available in your area.

Tablo products are currently available to residents of the United States (including Alaska & Hawaii) and Canada. Tablo DUAL HDMI and Tablo QUAD HDMI OTA DVRs are sold via Tablo's web store and Amazon.com.