External Hard Drive to TV?

leukoshoopr

Hi all, just wondering is it possible to store movies on an external hard drive and connect to a tv and playback? My tv has a hdmi port and the usual other ports.Just want to know before I buy one-thanks for any help

unjedilike

I plug my hard drive directly into the TV via USB. Works a treat

leukoshoopr

ok, and I take it a menu of some sorts pops up so you can select the movie? And I'd use a HDMI to USB cable ?

Heroditas

leukoshoopr wrote: »

ok, and I take it a menu of some sorts pops up so you can select the movie? And I'd use a HDMI to USB cable ?

It depends on whether the TV has the capability of reading files directly from the drive.
Older ones won't so you would need the drive hooked up to a media playing device which is then connected to the TV.

cobraeire

leukoshoopr wrote: »

ok, and I take it a menu of some sorts pops up so you can select the movie? And I'd use a HDMI to USB cable ?

Usually a usb cable

leukoshoopr

Heroditas wrote: »

It depends on whether the TV has the capability of reading files directly from the drive.
Older ones won't so you would need the drive hooked up to a media playing device which is then connected to the TV.

Like a dvd player? would it have to be a smart one or just regular

dave1982

This should work, prob find cheaper but type of media player

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cyclone-Primus-1TB-Media-Player-Black/dp/B004VR838Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1414404269&sr=8-2&keywords=2tb+media+player+hard+drive

bonzodog2

If TV has a USB port it will prob read from a USB hard disk. Will prob need to be FAT32 format, may be restricted to only some media formats. Otherwise a dedicated 'media-player' disk enclosure will play files and output video to a suitable video input on TV. Check documentation for TV.

Or you could plug your hard disk into a laptop with a compatible output for your TV

Saipanne

bonzodog2 wrote: »

If TV has a USB port it will prob read from a USB hard disk. Will prob need to be FAT32 format, may be restricted to only some media formats. Otherwise a dedicated 'media-player' disk enclosure will play files and output video to a suitable video input on TV. Check documentation for TV.

Or you could plug your hard disk into a laptop with a compatible output for your TV

This. It isn't as straightforward as you think.

leukoshoopr

ok thanks guys, this has been really very helpful

leukoshoopr

Saipanne wrote: »

This. It isn't as straightforward as you think.

How so?

greasepalm

interesting as i have a500gb full external hdd with no playable device to use as my combo original device has a 2tb in use now and unknown file format,hmm media player
i thought a vu would have played them.

Saipanne

leukoshoopr wrote: »

How so?

As explained in the post I referenced.

1) It depends on the TV
2) You may need to reformat your drive
3) Even after that, it may not play all your files

Ergo, not straightforward.

CinSoots

Buy a Now TV box for a tenner and install Plex onto it, see here - http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/08/sky-now-tv-plex/ - and connect your HDD and TV to it.

Stream your movies to your hearts content then!!

riclad

Some tv require drives plugged into the usb port to be formatted in fat32
file format,
the default standard now is ntfs ,Any pc or linux pc,
can format the drive to ntfs,or fat 32 file format.
read your tv manual,.
re pc files video drive info .
or plug drive in and see does it see the video files .
and some tvs ,may read only mp4.or avi ,wmv, video files .
I saw some dvd players in shops ,with a usb port for reading video files ,
there,s usually a label,on it.
Compatible with mp4,avi,mp3
Many laptops have hdmi out or svideo out ports for use with a tv .

Fat_Fingers

bonzodog2 wrote: »

If TV has a USB port it will prob read from a USB hard disk.

Not always. You have to carefully check this. Lots of TV's have USB port but its only "service" port. Meaning only used for diagnostic and troubleshooting of the TV, not for media playing.

yoyo

Another thing to bear in mind if you want to use the TVs media playback functions is file formats. Make sure to encode your content into standard enough formats, many TVs will have very limited codec support. firmware updates may introduce newer codecs but not always

Nick

riclad

i got a sony tv 5 years ago,basic 19inch hdtv.
it plays mp4, avi files from usb port.All this info will be in the tv manual ,
see compatible file types.media files,codecs.

DoYouEvenLift

Been doing exactly that for years, only issue I had was at times some mp4 files wouldn't play to the finish but I mostly play mkv's anyway. If you do a lot of downloading, get as big a hard drive as you can so it'll last a few years.


If you have good internet and money to blow it'd be worth it to just build a home theatre PC instead and fill it with the largest hard drives you can, that way you could download the best quality full bluray movies and shows with no worries about storage

LFC Murphy

OP, best way to find out if your TV can play is to put some movies on to USB pen drive and plug it in.

When I bought my TV in currys I went in with a couple of movies in different formats and tested them on the shop floor

Now have a 500gb drive permanently connected.

degsie

greasepalm wrote: »

interesting as i have a500gb full external hdd with no playable device to use as my combo original device has a 2tb in use now and unknown file format,hmm media player
i thought a vu would have played them.

I have no idea what this means!

STEINBERG

I have been doing this also for years. I have a samsung 32" it is a fairly old TV by standards nowadays, has a few HDMI ports and also USB.

It is plug and play, but what i have noticed is that if i put a file directly onto the HD i connect the files never play.

If i put that file inside a folder on my desktop and drag that folder to the HD, the files play every time.....