playing MP4/MKV/H.264 files with USB thumb drive

[joecass]

Up until recently, files I downloaded were DivX or Xvid format, which I could play on my DVD players using a USB flash drive.
Nowadays, more people are using MP4/MKV/H.264 formats. Are there any current DVD or Blu-Ray players that will automatically
play these files from a flash drive ? Alternately, are there any free software programs that convert these newer formats to
.avi at 720X480 ?

[jagabo]

Many Blu-ray players will play h.264 in MP4 or MKV from a flash drive, USB hard drive, even network shares. I have an LG BD-670 that does so. You can also look into standalone media players like the Western Digital WDTV series.

http://www.iboum.com/net-media-players.php

Standalone media players are more flexible and play a wider array of video formats, codecs, etc.