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Thread ID: 143171	2016-12-07 21:03:00	USB flash drive to HDMI TV	Tutor (17511)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1429581	2016-12-07 21:03:00	Hi All, I saw this question in here earlier, but it was closed. The question was can I put stuff (audio and video) onto a USB flash drive memory stick (from my notebook), then put the stick into a USB - HDMI converter, then stick that converter into my TV. My TV has no USB port. The answer was "No", but I didn't quite understand the reason. So, why can't you do the above steps? Don't get me wrong...I want the answer to be "No", because I just bought a 6m HDMI to HDMI cord, But I would still like to know the reason. Sincerely, Tutor	Tutor (17511)
1429582	2016-12-07 21:55:00	The answer was "No", but I didn't quite understand the reason. So, why can't you do the above steps? why, because thats not how things work. Its a bit like saying, why cant I plug my USB into the mains socket & have it playing on the fridge :) what you can do, is get some sort of media player that has both USB & HDMI & use that or use that long HDMI cord & plug the laptop into the TV	1101 (13337)
1429583	2016-12-07 23:42:00	USB transfers data. HDMI transfers video. It would be like trying to pump water through electrical cables. :)	pcuser42 (130)
1429584	2016-12-08 05:00:00	The real reason is because their standard was not created to do that. Thats more the technical way of looking at it. The real real reason its not going to work is because USB likes to be controlled (except chargers, thats another specification), you plug a flash drive in a host, that host wants to take over it. The host then needs to understand how to use it. If you are storing data, the host needs to be able to read/write the file system. If its a gamepad/joystick, the host needs a driver to know how to use it. Now look at HDMI, what do you know about it? Have you seen HDMI drives around? Nope? Thats because HDMI works differently, it does not like being controlled. You plug an HDMI monitor into your computer, the computer can only send it video/audio, it may have basic control to switch it off and on, but it only sends never receives back from it (the bits that count). Its a one way communication, and it does that great. It can handle huge video and sound without interruption. So, USB to HDMI, the problem. USB likes control, HDMI likes receiving. To make it work, you need something to take control of the USB and send it over the HDMI, e.g, a laptop. Thats what is missing.	Kame (312)
1429585	2016-12-08 08:32:00	As kame points out you need a device to send the content to the HDMI on the TV. You don't need a computer, all you need is something that supports USB that will connect to the HDMI on the TV. Some examples: REALLY cheap, but the connection is Composite video output, more than likely cheaper than your 6M HDMI Cable, a no name brand DVD player- www.harveynorman.co.nz On sale at Harvey Norman, $17 -- (That's not a typo seventeen) For HDMI, similar Blu-Ray / DVD players under $100. www.harveynorman.co.nz (www.harveynorman.co.nz)	wainuitech (129)
1429586	2016-12-08 09:25:00	When looking at these players, the important information for playing from USB is knowing if the host can understand it. That means it needs to know the file system, FAT is still the most common but NTFS can be found too. So make sure it understands that. The next thing would be knowing if the player understands the file. AVI video files are not all the same. They can each have the video and sound compressed to different formats. You need to check what codecs are supported, else you need to transcode your video files to what it supports.	Kame (312)
1429587	2016-12-08 10:10:00	Codec support is not such an issue any more, it does still occasionally happen but the players around these days support all the common codecs and it's rare to find a file they won't play. You do want NTFS support if you plan to play large HD files though as they simply won't fit on a FAT file system due to it's maximum file size limitation. A PC is still the ultimate player though, if a file won't play you just install another codec or a different player and try again, and they network easier and have other uses.	dugimodo (138)
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