For board-level technicians
Boardview and schematic linked, community reference values on the selected net, and your own readings recorded at the point of measurement. Less time searching for reference values, more time repairing.
Boardview. Schematic. Community readings. One bench tool.
Open the board.
Know every value.
Fix it faster.
BVSense integrates the boardview, the schematic and a database of over 270,000 community-measured readings in a single application for board-level repair. Select any net to see its expected diode, voltage and resistance values, with the number of measurements behind each. Enter your own readings and every net outside tolerance is identified, so diagnostic time is spent where the evidence points. Supported boardview PDFs convert into a real, searchable boardview in about half a minute.
Get Bench or Pro — from £69 Start with the Free edition
Software you own: one payment, perpetual licence, no subscription, no cloud dependency. Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit.
15boardview formats, identified by content
1,300+boards with community readings
270,000+diode, voltage and resistance readings
2 sto open a 5,469-part MacBook Pro board
Who it is for
Designed for board-level repair
For repair shops
Repair jobs with customer, status and dated entries across every board, a report ready for the invoice, and up to five workstations on a single Pro licence.
For hobbyists and learners
The Free edition opens all fifteen formats, links the schematic and shows the community reference values. Learn what a healthy board measures before committing to a repair.
Professionals should own their tools.
BVSense is sold under a perpetual licence. One payment, no recurring fees, no renewal and no account that must remain active. It is a native Windows application that runs on your own workstation, and every function except community synchronisation operates without an internet connection.
Feature set
Everything the repair needs, on the board itself
Reference values, schematic, layers, diagnostic guidance and your own notes are presented on the net under examination, not in separate tables.
Content-Sniffing Decoder
Fifteen importers, from legacy .brd and .bdv through XZZ PCB, FZ and TVW to GenCAD, Allegro, KiCad and Eagle. Five of these share the .brd extension, so BVSense identifies a file by its content rather than its name, and identifies the board itself from its rail names. No prior conversion is required.
Consensus Values on Every Net
Community-measured diode, voltage and resistance values are shown on the selected net, each with the number of measurements behind it. Over 270,000 readings across 1,300 boards, growing with every contribution.
Verdict Compare
Every reading on the board is checked against the community value and classified: within tolerance, outside tolerance, or a conflict where one side reads open-line and the other a value. Tolerances are explicit, 25 mV or 3% for diode and voltage, 1 Ω or 10% for resistance. On one MacBook board, 1,415 readings were compared and 8 flagged, in seconds.
Symptom-to-Pad Fault Locator
Select the symptom: no power, not charging, power with no display, short on a rail, or power followed by shutdown. BVSense presents the stages to check in order, the rails within each stage, and navigates the view to the physical pad to be probed. Pro tier.
Schematic Cross-Probe
PDF schematics are linked to the board in both directions. Select a net or component on the board and the schematic locates it; select a reference designator or net on the schematic and the board highlights it. Search by reference designator, net or pin from either view.
Layer Control
Each copper layer, silkscreen, solder mask and outline can be shown or hidden individually, vias included, where the file carries them. A Nintendo Switch XZZ board renders 15 copper layers. Layer selections persist across boards and sessions. Every tier sees the complete board; the controls are Pro.
Board-Side Memory
Everything you record is stored in a database beside the board file: readings, notes on a net, pin or component, markers placed at board coordinates, and renamed nets. Renames are keyed to the net index rather than the name, so they survive an updated copy of the same board.
Offline by Design
A 20 MB download, installed per user with no administrator rights, no service and no background process. Every function except community synchronisation operates offline. A 5,469-component MacBook Pro board opens in approximately two seconds. A problem report is transmitted only after you have reviewed it in full and approved it.
Repair Job Log
Record each repair as a job with customer, status and dated entries, across all boards. Export a plain-text report to the clipboard for invoicing or handover. Pro tier.
PDF boardview converter
Convert a supported PDF boardview into a real boardview file
Many boards are only available as PDF boardviews: a drawing of each side with reference designators, pin names and net labels as text. Where the PDF uses the colour-coded text layer BVSense recognises, it writes a .bvr file with every component, pin and net name in place, on both sides, that opens, searches and cross-probes like any other boardview. From the File menu or the command line.
Validated on the colour-coded ASUS-style exports, for laptop and graphics-card boards alike; other vendors’ PDFs use different conventions and many do not convert yet. Vector PDFs only; scanned or image-only PDFs are not supported. The result is a boardview with parts, pins and net names. It does not contain copper layers, traces or vias, because the PDF does not.
31.5 sto convert a two-page, 587 KB boardview PDF
3,272components placed
10,085pins with position and size
1,567nets, by their real names
Community board data
270,000 readings from boards that were actually measured
Diode, voltage and resistance values per net, by board model, with the number of measurements behind each. Free to read on every tier, here and on the board within BVSense.
AppleHuaweiHonorSamsungXiaomiRedmiOPPORealmeOnePlusvivoiQOOMeizuNubiaNintendo Switch
Pricing
One payment. Yours permanently.
No renewals, no subscription and no account that must remain active. Upgrade from Bench to Pro for £50 within six months.
Free
£0
- All 15 boardview formats
- PDF boardview converter
- Schematic cross-probe in both directions
- Community values on every net
- Compare readings supplied with the board file; out-of-tolerance nets flagged
- Net renaming and notes
- 1 machine
Most popular
Bench
£69 once
- Everything in Free
- Record your own readings at the point of measurement
- Compare your own measurements; out-of-tolerance nets flagged
- Contribute readings to the community
- 2 machines
Pro
£119 once
- Everything in Bench
- Fault locator: symptom to probe pad
- Copper layer controls
- Jobs: customer, status and dated entries per repair
- Report export
- 5 machines
| Feature | Free | Bench | Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open all 15 boardview formats | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDF boardview converter | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Schematic cross-probe in both directions | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Community values on every net | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Compare readings and flag out-of-tolerance nets | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Net renaming and notes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Record your own readings | — | Yes | Yes |
| Contribute readings to the community | — | Yes | Yes |
| Fault locator | — | — | Yes |
| Copper layer controls | — | — | Yes |
| Jobs and report export | — | — | Yes |
| Machines | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Price | £0 | £69 once | £119 once |
| BVSense | Subscription tools | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | £69 or £119, once | A fee every month or year |
| Licence | Perpetual, yours for good | Stops when the payments stop |
| Offline use | Everything except community sync | Often tied to a login |
| Your readings and notes | Beside the board file, on your machine | On the vendor’s servers |
| Community values on the net | Yes, with sample counts | Varies |
Upgrade Bench to Pro for £50 within six months of buying Bench. A 7-day trial at Bench level starts on first activation.
Supported files
Fifteen boardview formats and PDF conversion. All in the Free edition.
BVSense has its own decoder for every family below and identifies a file by its content rather than its extension. Five distinct formats share the .brd extension; each is identified and opened correctly.
| Family | Formats | Extensions | Free |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legacy and generic boardviews | OpenBoardView BRD, TestLink, Float BRD, BDV, BV, BVR, Tsict | .brd .bdv .bv .bvr .asc | Yes |
| OEM and proprietary | XZZ PCB, FZ, TVW | .pcb .brd .fz .cae .tvw | Yes |
| CAD and manufacturing | GenCAD, Allegro extract, Allegro binary, KiCad, Eagle | .cad .gcd .gencad .brd .kicad_pcb | Yes |
| PDF boardviews | Supported colour-coded boardview PDFs, converted to .bvr | Yes | |
| Schematics | PDF, linked to the board | Yes |
Board files are read, never modified. The one export is board to .bvr. No boardview or schematic files are included with the software.
Questions
Straight answers
- Which boardview formats does BVSense open?
- Fifteen: OpenBoardView, TestLink and Float .brd, BDV, BV, BVR, Tsict (.asc), XZZ PCB (.pcb, .brd), FZ (.fz, .cae), TVW, GenCAD (.cad, .gcd), Allegro extract, Allegro binary, KiCad (.kicad_pcb) and Eagle. Every one is included in the Free edition. Files are identified by content, so the five different formats that all use .brd open correctly. Schematics are PDF.
- Can it convert a PDF boardview into a real boardview?
- For supported PDFs, yes. A boardview PDF that carries reference designators, pin names and net labels as colour-coded text, the ASUS-style export for laptop and graphics-card boards being the validated case, is converted to a .bvr file with every component, pin and net name on both sides, which then opens and searches like any other boardview. A two-page PDF of 3,272 components takes about half a minute. Other vendors use different conventions and many do not convert yet; scanned or image-only PDFs are not supported; and the result has no copper layers or traces because the PDF has none.
- Which brands does the community data cover?
- Over 1,300 boards, the largest groups being Huawei and Honor, Apple, OPPO, Realme and OnePlus, vivo and iQOO, Xiaomi and Redmi, and Samsung, with Meizu, Nubia, Black Shark and Nintendo Switch boards among the rest. It grows with every contribution.
- Is the licence a subscription?
- No. Every paid tier is a one-off payment and is yours permanently. There are no renewals and no subscription; only the 7-day trial expires.
- How many machines can I install it on?
- Free and trial cover one machine, Bench two, Pro five. You can move a licence between machines yourself.
- What does Pro add over Bench?
- The fault locator, the copper layer controls, jobs with report export, and five machines instead of two. The controls are visible on every tier and unlock on activation. Bench upgrades to Pro for £50 within six months.
- Do I need an internet connection?
- Only to activate, and to read or contribute community data. Opening boards, layers, search, the fault locator, the schematic, readings and notes all operate without a connection.
- Where are my readings and notes stored?
- In a database written beside the board file, one per board, on your own machine. Nothing leaves it unless you choose to contribute readings to the community.
- Does it connect to my multimeter?
- No. Readings are typed in. Pick the kind (diode, voltage, resistance or continuity) and it stays selected while you work. There is no instrument link.
- Which Windows versions run it?
- Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit. It installs per user with no administrator rights, adds no service and runs nothing in the background. There is no macOS or Linux build.
- What does the community data cost?
- Nothing to read, on any tier including Free. Contributing readings needs a Bench or Pro licence.
Built on the bench
Developed within a working repair business, against the boards that arrive for repair.
Yours to keep
One payment, a perpetual licence, and software that runs independently of any online service.
Nothing hidden
Your data remains beside your board files, and nothing is transmitted without your explicit review.