Got a new TV, what's the deal with USB?

MindLib

Got this:
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=vizio+e420vl&psj=1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=12730942405662992402&ei=MX2nTIXlNYKclgfwtqyjDQ&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CD8Q8wIwAg#

Vizio E420VL.

I assumed (naively) that all TVs that have USB ports would be able to play video files. Turns out this model can only deal with .jpg .jpeg formats. Seems like that's mostly the case for newer TVs unless your paying for one of the most recent models ($).

Now what I'm wondering is if there is an alternate solution. Are there DVD/Bluray players that support USB and any specific format of video files? Or perhaps crazily a USB -> HDMI converter which would read a video file?

I'm willing to spend some cash, just not sure where to begin looking.

Thanks for your nerd time.

useless4

What are you ultimately trying to achieve? What type of files and where do they live?

matt has a problem

Does it have to be through USB? Both the 360 and PS3 support popular video file formats, just load them onto a CD (if you have a 360 or PS3 of course). They may even support playing from USB come to think of it, I've never tried it though.

Sir Headless VII

matthasaproblem wrote: »

Does it have to be through USB? Both the 360 and PS3 support popular video file formats, just load them onto a CD (if you have a 360 or PS3 of course). They may even support playing from USB come to think of it, I've never tried it though.

They do

MindLib

useless4 wrote: »

What are you ultimately trying to achieve? What type of files and where do they live?

I'm trying to be able to play home-movies and video files as data from a USB stick. I'm talking about .avis, .mkvs, etc... It's easy to burn a cd/dvd of said video but I'm looking for something quicker. I'd also simply hook my PC up to the new TV, alas it's on a different floor.

Does the XBOX really read media off a USB? I should try that.

What would be cool is if I can deposit videos onto a HD and feed it to my TV, are there DVD players that hold media on a HD that also has this capability?

LaPuzza

MindLib wrote: »

useless4 wrote: »

What are you ultimately trying to achieve? What type of files and where do they live?

I'm trying to be able to play home-movies and video files as data from a USB stick. I'm talking about .avis, .mkvs, etc... It's easy to burn a cd/dvd of said video but I'm looking for something quicker. I'd also simply hook my PC up to the new TV, alas it's on a different floor.

Does the XBOX really read media off a USB? I should try that.

What would be cool is if I can deposit videos onto a HD and feed it to my TV, are there DVD players that hold media on a HD that also has this capability?

PS3 and 360 are very open on file formats, I was plesently surprised that the 360 will even connect to the net to install file format supports automatically.

matt has a problem

The 360 can also stream media off your PC, you just set it up using Windows Media Player.

MindLib

ok, had to format the stick to FAT32 and download an update but it worked on the 360, thanks guys, why hadn't I thought of that?

EDIT: My only regret is that because the stick is formatted to FAT32 it can't handle files over 4 gigs. So I'm still interested in an alternative that takes an NTFS format, if anyone has any ideas.

mooshoepork

WD TV?

That's what I use...kinda pricey though

SmokeStacks

matthasaproblem wrote: »

The 360 can also stream media off your PC, you just set it up using Windows Media Player.

The PS3 can as well, using WMP or a variety of freeware programs.

The only thing that sucks with USB support on the PS3 and 360 is that neither support NTFS, which sucks because that 4GB file limit means you're pretty much boned out of most 1080p movies.

Have you checked to see if your TV has a firmware update? You should have an option in the menu to tell you which firmware version you're running, and then you can hit the Vizio website to see if they have an update (which is installed via USB). Occasionally TVs will be updated to support additional formats.

Crashtard

If your 360/ps3 and computer are hooked up to the same home network, you could use tversity to stream videos from your pc to the console. I do it that way, and it's great.

Snipethewolf

If you don't have an issue with having a computer on your network running to do the task I would say go grab Tversity. It will steam/trascode as needed to stream all you media to your 360. As for solutions that support NTFS I think the Western Digital TV thing supports your formats.

BoomShake

I don't know what LaPuzza's talking about; PS3 and 360 are shit on codec support, even with the one or two updates released.

Use PS3 Media Server (download) (forums) to stream your files. Don't let the name fool you, it works with any UPnP device (PS3, Xbox360, etc.). The best part is that it does transcoding on the fly (and only when necessary), so you shouldn't have to worry about whether it'll play whatever you've got. I've done HD video over completely wireless networks (i.e. both host computer and 360 are wireless, vastly different parts of house) without issue. It's also completely free, unlike many of the other solutions, and cross-platform.