I'm having trouble getting my home videos to play on my TVs (Vizio and LG) using a flash drive. The USB drive is formatted to exFAT and I have MPEG-4 video files with H.264 video and AAC audio. Both TVs recognize the flash drive, but they don't seem to find any playable files. I want to watch these videos with my dad for the holidays since he was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and I'm feeling a bit lost with this troubleshooting. Any advice?
6 Answers
If nothing else works, see if your router has a USB port. You can try accessing video files that way using a file viewer app on your TV. Sometimes going old school with cables is just simpler!
You might want to try installing the VLC Player app on your TV. It handles almost any video file you throw at it, which can help since playing files directly can be challenging. It’s a lifesaver for many users!
Check out the LG support page for guidance on supported video codecs. Your files (H.264 and AAC) should ideally be in mp4, m4v, or mov formats since mpg/mpeg might not work well. That could be your issue!
It sounds like your file system might be the issue. While MPEG-4 should be supported on many modern TVs, LG doesn’t support exFAT. Try reformatting your USB drive to either FAT32 or NTFS.
Don’t forget to consult your TV’s user manual. It might have specific instructions or requirements for playing files from a USB drive, which can save you some headache.
Modern TVs can be tricky with file compatibility. Have you checked if your TV models require any specific media player from their app stores? If they’re smart TVs, that could be the case. Otherwise, you might find it easier just to connect a laptop with an HDMI cable if that’s an option for you.
Totally agree! VLC is one of those apps that should come pre-installed everywhere because it makes things so much easier.