Some TV's play movies on a USB stick and some don't. Why?

[giddyup]

I have a fairly new Panasonic LCD TV that will not play downloaded movies via a flash drive, and yet my mate's LG TV plays them (most) without a problem. I have to use a cheap Chinese media player that enables me to play the movies on my TV. The only format that my mate's TV won't play are those in the VLC player format.

What is the difference between the two TV's that allows him to play via the USB stick and me not, and how do you know when you buy a TV?

[Crossy]

Could be a number of things, by the way VLC is not a format, it's a player that plays pretty well everything.

Have you tried the same stick in both TVs?

Most likely issue is the format of the stick, pretty well any unit will play FAT or FAT32, many will not play NTFS.

Try re-formatting your stick as FAT and try again.

To know what a particular TV plays? First stop, the manual

[giddyup]

Could be a number of things, by the way VLC is not a format, it's a player that plays pretty well everything.

Have you tried the same stick in both TVs?

Most likely issue is the format of the stick, pretty well any unit will play FAT or FAT32, many will not play NTFS.

Try re-formatting your stick as FAT and try again.

To know what a particular TV plays? First stop, the manual

All I know is that the movies with the traffic cone logo along side them won't play on his TV, everything else will, and yes, I've tried the same stick on both TV's. My sticks are all formatted as FAT32. I found this info: "You need TV which can read from a FAT32 storage device and the TV must have a CODEC which can decode the read the video file which in most cases is .avi. Unless the TV especially has a USB port or card reader. It won't work."

Edited December 24, 2013 by giddyup

[lomatopo]

What is the format of the file(s) which won't play? What is the extension? You can right-click on the file to get this detail.

The traffic-cone merely means that on your PC you've associated that file type with VLC. It could be an mp4, avi, mkv "container". Maybe your TV can't handle the container type (mkv?), or the embedded video and/or audio codec.

Which file types play successfully on your TV?

I have Samsung TV's and they play everything; I've never had a file which would not play.

You can review the specs, or the user's manual, to get a feel for which file types may be supported.

[Chicog]

If you tell us the model of TV you have, we might be able to tell you the formats it can play.

The most popular are:

.avi

.mp4

.mkv

But there are many different flavours of some of these.

However, your TV's documentation will have a list somewhere.

[kkerry]

Most TVs less than 3 years old with a USB port will play .avi files.

.mp4 or .mkv can depend on the TV. Samsung TVs seem to play everything, at least my one does.

[lopburi3]

Also be aware that the thumb drive type may be a factor. If it loads as removable storage in Windows you may have to use right click menu to eject it before it can be used in TV set. Other thumb drives load as if a hard drive and do not require this step.

[giddyup]

If you tell us the model of TV you have, we might be able to tell you the formats it can play.

The most popular are:

.avi

.mp4

.mkv

But there are many different flavours of some of these.

However, your TV's documentation will have a list somewhere.

It's a Panasonic TH-L-42U5T. I don't think this model is capable of playing anything on a USB stick other than music and photos.

Edited December 24, 2013 by giddyup

[lopburi3]

If you have the manual it should say - and if only Thai look for AVI, MKV, MP4 and such as should be charted. You have confirmed thumb drive is prepared for non computer use as mentioned above? Don't seem to be able to find manual or detailed information on that Thai model on imternet (without paying).

[Chicog]

The nearest manual I can find is for the 42U5E.

If you open the link and look at page 9 to see if it is a similar configuration, and then page 27, you'll see it lists a variety of different video formats.

I don't know if that helps.

http://tda.panasonic-europe-service.com/docs/2z52b9731cz3z36f56z656ez706466z22z460ab70bc2ea0bb65caa81ac1007224dd25c2dbc/tsn2/data/ALL/TXL42U5E/OI/892547/TZZ00000511A-U.pdf

Alternatively, compare it with the Operating Instructions manual that you have to see if it has similar pages.

Edited December 24, 2013 by Chicog

[kkerry]

Looks like it is jpeg and .mp3 only for your TV.

ftp://61.19.197.61/03/THL42U5T.pdf

Next TV you buy take along a flash drive with some .avi .mp4 .mkv to test before you buy

Edited December 24, 2013 by kkerry

[sumrit]

I bought two 20" LCD TV's for my granddaughters bedrooms, thinking they could watch some children's cartoons before going to bed. As well as having built in DVD's both TV's had USB slots. I took a DVD to the shop with AVI video on to confirm the DVD would play it but didn't bother with a memory stick because I assumed it would play the same formats. The DVD would play almost 'anything' but, via the USB input, they would only play video in MPEG 2. My son in law now has to convert everything they want to watch.

[kkerry]

You would think all TVs now would play off a flash drive but there are still a few that don't. I was visiting a nursing home overseas earlier this year and wanted to show someone some videos and while there were three different brands of TV, none very old, they would not play my videos. Two were photo and MP3 only and the other used the USB slot for service only. Samsung seem to be the most flash drive friendly but I'd still want to test any TV I was interested in before buying to be sure.

[keeniau96]

Really good advice to take along a USB stick with various formats of audio and video when shopping for TV and players. I found that out several years ago after kicking myself for not doing so. Don't trust the manual or the sales info, use your own files for a truth test.

[Chicog]

Or just buy a Samsung 8 Series and play files straight from your network.

[Digitalbanana]

Just buy an Android stick that plugs in your HDMI port. It will play all formats when VLC player installed on it. 1500THB from the mall for a dual core model. You'll get a device that is more configurable than the so called smart TV can offer as well.

[Chicog]

I would hazard a guess that someone who talks about "VLC Format" might possibly find configuring an Android-on-a-stick to be a little challenging.

No disrespect like.

[monsieurhappy]

I have a LG tv and have the same problems. It works with all avi. files but not all mp4.

I have overcome this problem by converting mp4 to avi. via a small free program downloaded from internet.

Pazera free mp4 to avi converter.

[giddyup]

I would hazard a guess that someone who talks about "VLC Format" might possibly find configuring an Android-on-a-stick to be a little challenging.

No disrespect like.

None taken.

[Smokin Joe]

I just bought a new TV last week and wanted that feature, The salesmen pointed out on the boxes where it specifically said "media player" in reference to the USB port. There were others available that had USP ports but not the "media player" logo. He said there show pictures and used for upgrading firmware. You probably have one of the TV's that is not a USB "Media Player" model.

[giddyup]

I just bought a new TV last week and wanted that feature, The salesmen pointed out on the boxes where it specifically said "media player" in reference to the USB port. There were others available that had USP ports but not the "media player" logo. He said there show pictures and used for upgrading firmware. You probably have one of the TV's that is not a USB "Media Player" model.

You're right. I didn't even think to look for that feature when I bought the TV. However, for 1000 baht I bought a media player that plays everything when plugged into the TV's USB port, so it's no biggie.

[Daffy D]

Too late for the OP but to anyone thinking of buying a new TV I would go for a Samsung.

We have 2 of them and they play everything I have thrown at them and if you get a "Smart" model you have internet and Wi-Fi as well a load of free movie and kids stuff to download from Samsung.