I know some people are having problems with the USB slot on their televisions, so I decided to write a quick guide to help them. First of all most TV’s with a USB slot will be running with the Linux operating system. Don’t worry if you aren’t familiar with Linux because it isn’t important, however, it is important that your flash drive is formatted correctly before you begin. Typically you want it to be in FAT32 format because that is the most common with both TV’s and even PlayStation’s, if that’s your thing.
To check the format in Windows 7 simply right click on the flash drive and select format etc. easy peasy. With Windows XP should be the same, but if not there is plenty of information on the internet about it.
Once you have it in FAT32 format, it’s a case of getting files in the correct format so your TV can recognise them. For that you will need a video converter, I use Convertxtodvd and Wondershare, but unless you are familiar with torrents you will have to settle for some freeware software. Regardless of what software you use, you need to convert to a format your TV will recognize. Most of them will recognize AVI; however, there are many types of AVI. It can be tricky, but if you look for a converter that converts to DVD, it will work on your USB TV. If you use Wondershare I recommend converting to Xvid in AVI because it doesn’t produce large files and gives good quality.
One thing to note is that in the FAT32 system you can’t use a file larger than 4GB, which means that HD movies can be a problem, but don’t worry there is an easy workaround (Edit July 2014: Some of the newer TVs support NTFS, which allows files larger than 4GB). If you use Wondershare to convert, it will tell you the file size of the finished file before you begin, if it’s over 4GB don’t bother, instead use Convertxtodvd. With that it will automatically split the movie into separate parts, meaning no file will be bigger than 4GB. This is how I format my files but it will vary if you use different converters.
- Wondershare is great because it can batch convert many files and supports using multiple cores on a computer, arguably the best converter around
- Convertxtodvd is good if the file is too large, although Wondershare allow you to split videos, it’s more trouble than it’s worth, this program does it automatically
Okay, now you have your files converted. A common problem people have is not getting their files to display in the correct order. This happens for many reasons but there is a very simple solution – put your files into a folder on your computer first. This sounds obvious but you would be surprised how many people don’t do this. Now they are in a folder they might not be in the correct order, but all you need to do is rename the files. Just call them file 1 file 2 etc. Chances are you won’t have to rename them too often but if you do it’s easy enough. Okay now they are in the correct format and correct order, you’re all set to watch them on your TV!
THINGS TO NOTE:
1. Some TV’s will support other formats other than FAT32, such as NTFS, so they can handle files larger than 4GB. Although I think FAT32 is the most flexible and most likely to work.
2. The types of files your TV will display can vary greatly, but they will always display any files that are in DVD format, and should work with most forms of AVI, such as Xvid, Divx etc.
3. Although it’s your choice to use torrents, if you are familiar with them you can always download files already in viewable format, which saves time converting them
4. I think that’s everything, feel free to ask me questions if you want.
5. Enjoy.
Knowledge is Power 