Playing movies via USB on Sony Bravia????

[230K]

Hi

We bought a new Sony Bravia kdl-40ex403 with the intention of playing movies from a portable hard drive via the USB port.
I have tried now for 2 evenings and just cannot get it to work.

Another Samsung tv that i have tried is just a plug and play, anyone any ideas or experience of doing the same??

Thanks,

230K

 

[Sp!ke]

What format encoding does the tv support?

 

[LTD]

The USB might just be for photograph slideshows.

I'd recommend looking at the WD TV if you can't get it to do what you want. Cracking piece of kit for about £80

 

[230K]

What format encoding does the tv support?

No idea

How do i find that out??

230K

 

[whitenemesis]

From the website - KDL-40EX403 (KDL40EX403) : Overview : TV & Home Cinema : Sony

USB Video Player - YES (AVC/AVCHD/DivX/MPEG4)

 

[230K]

Hi

It just seems to act erratically with the memory stcks and portable hard drives.

You have to register the Divx but when i registered and saved the movie the tv would not playback.

I have tried 2 pen drives and 2 portable 300G drives but it will not recognise the portable drives at all. Only the pen drives and when it recognises them it will not show all the mpeg and avi files that are on there. It has only played one file so far and it is a short video of the kids playing.

If i hadnt thrown the tv box out i would take it back to Currys.

Anyone any ideas??

230K

 

[A210AMG]

Hello

I have a Sony Bravia TV but use a WD TV box which connects to a 1TB External drive which I keep films on and then use the spare USB port on the box to plug in other portable drives such as flash drives etc.

The High Def 1080p stuff is generally MKV format and this works a treat. I've yet to find anything it does not play.


You can just spot it here before I upgraded to sky HD its on top with a small USB hard drive attached and the WD 1TB up right like a book.

 

[230K]

Hi A210AMG

Thanks for that, i might just have to go down that route if i cannot get the Sony Bravia to do it for me.

The reason i bought this model on Sunday was that it claims to play media files via USB.

230K

 

[A210AMG]

^ Its a shame if it doesn't I guess it must have some sort of media player built in. Have you tried a standard AVI or Mpeg file to see if it plays?

Is it the memory stick does it need to be formatted for the TV first?

Seems odd

 

[npuk]

Try reformatting the pen drive. Make sure they are formatted as fat32 or what the tv requires. Are you using cheap unbranded pen drives? Also see if there any firmware upgrades available for the tv on sonys site.

 

[grober]

this of any help?
http://support.sony-europe.com/tutorials/tvhc/dlna/dlna_comp.aspx


http://support.sony-europe.com/tvhc/imanual/connect.aspx?site=odw_en_GB&m=KDL-32EX503&s=dsc

 

[230K]

Hi

I opted for the Western Digital USB media player and decided to forget about the built in player in the Sony tv. Out of curiousity i took the 4 storage devices that i have down to the local Currys and they all played on the Samsung tv but none of them played on the Sony in the shop so i guess Sony are just pants as a media player.

Wish i had bought the Samsung but you live and learn.

230K

 

[lil.smartie]

We use a HDMI lead from P's Vaio laptop to our Bravia TV, might be another option?

Kate

 

[230K]

Hi

Thought i would update on this. I mentioned to the chap at the desk in Currys the other evening when buying a portable hard drive that i couldnt get the Sony Bravia to recognise the portable hard drive and play the movies and he straight away that i need a Buffalo portable hard drive.

So.... I ordered a 500Gb one from the net and it arrived on Saturday morning and it works!!!!!!:bannana::bannana::bannana:

I can now plug the Buffalo straight into tv and the in-built media player plays the movies.

Happy days!!!

230K

 

[Noodle-Pulp]

TBH I stream all my PC content using PS3 Media Server, no need for HD transfers that way..

 

[pippo_t]

TBH I stream all my PC content using PS3 Media Server, no need for HD transfers that way..

I've got a media streamer as well, but I know that Sony devices can be funny with usb sticks. On the PS3, if the videos on a usb stick are not contained in a folder called videos they won't be discovered, regardless of file type. It may be the same issue with the Bravia TV's as well?

 

[markjay]

The HD route has its own advantages, if you have a family then the rest of them can watch movies even you take your laptop away.

Incidentally my HD is plugged into the Samsung Blu-Ray player, I must say I am quite impressed with that side of things - it has so far recognised every type of hard disk drive and USB stick I tried, and played each and every format... it also correctly shows subtitles, or in short it does everything that that VLC does. I do have other complaints about the Samsung, but as far as playing movies over USB I just can't fault it.

Having said that I can see the advantage of eliminating the middleman altogether and connecting the HD straight into a (compatible) TV.

 

[Palfrem]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003E8GQ62/?tag=amazon0e9db-21


I use this gismo with my Sony and it works just fine.

The TV needed to download some new software ( via the gizmo) first, but now it uses my home network to play loads of internet content.

You can also send (share) music, video and pictures from your PC to the TV.

It took me 5 minutes to add the TV to my home network then - bingo!

I have a Sony PC so I suppose that may have made it easier but I'm no geek.

 

[mikeholl]

I can now plug the Buffalo straight into tv and the in-built media player plays the movies.

230K

This seems to be a bit of a difficult area. Sony told me that the basic rules are - must be Fat32 formatted (therefore a 4gb/ file limit)and must have its own power supply (versus powered from the USB socket). I've copied you and ordered a buffalo drive with the above features. There seems to be doubt about formats and directory structure. I'm wondering...

What formats have you used? Did you arrange the directory in any special way? Have you tried HD? Any other hints and tips?