pvr

IPA/ˌpiː viː ˈɑː(r)/
IPA/ˌpiː viː ˈɑːr/

pvr — noun

1. an electronic machine that stores television programmes or video footage on a bu

1.nounB1
Definition

an electronic machine that stores television programmes or video footage on a built-in hard drive rather than on tape, letting you pause live TV, rewind, and schedule future recordings. The word comes from 'personal video recorder'.

Example

Selim set the PVR to record the football match while he was at work.

set the PVR to record

Rohan’s PVR has over two hundred hours of space for films and shows.

possessive + PVR + has + storage quantity

Common collocations
  • set the PVR
  • PVR recording
  • record on a PVR
  • PVR remote
  • programme the PVR
  • watch from the PVR
Synonyms
  • DVR

    Common in American English; technically the same type of device, though DVR often refers to a cable-company box while PVR can be a standalone unit.

  • digital video recorder

    A full descriptive name that avoids the brand-specific overtones some attach to PVR; less common in casual speech.

  • TiVo

    A brand name that became generic for any PVR, especially in the United States; avoid using it in formal writing.

Grammar Patterns

set the PVR + to-infinitive

use a PVR + to-infinitive

PVR + records/stores + noun

Usage Note

The full form 'personal video recorder' is rarely used in everyday conversation; people usually say 'PVR' (pronounced 'pee-vee-are'). Treat it as a regular countable noun (a PVR / two PVRs).

Common Mistakes

I bought a PVR to watch live television.
I bought a PVR to record programmes I cannot watch live.
A PVR is designed for recording, pausing and replaying, not merely for watching live TV, which any standard TV can do.

Word family

  • personal video recorder
    noun phraseB1
  • DVR
    nounB1
  • digital video recorder
    noun phraseB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four terms describe machines that play or record television programmes, but they differ in technology and era. A VCR (video cassette recorder) uses magnetic tape in a cassette and belongs to the pre-digital era; it is now dated. A PVR (personal video recorder) records digitally onto a hard drive, allowing pause and rewind of live TV. DVR (digital video recorder) is essentially the same thing, though in the United States DVR is more common for cable- or satellite-provided boxes while PVR leans toward standalone brands. TiVo is a specific brand of PVR that became a household name; people often say 'TiVo' to mean any PVR in casual American English, but it is trademarked. In British English, PVR is the standard term. If you are writing formally, use PVR or DVR rather than the brand name.

PVR ↗DVR ↗TiVo ↗VCR ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • set the PVR to record
  • watch something on the PVR
  • record something on PVR

Prepositions

  • on a PVR
  • from the PVR
  • via PVR

Etymology

English

PVR is an initialism of 'personal video recorder', a term that appeared in the late 1990s alongside the first consumer digital recording devices. 'Personal' indicated that the device was designed for an individual viewer's use (in contrast to professional broadcast equipment), 'video' referred to moving pictures, and 'recorder' described its core function. The abbreviation caught on because the full phrase is long, and the technology spread rapidly after TiVo and Sky+ brought it into millions of homes in the early 2000s.