How to play .mkv files on tv using usb source directly attached to the tv

[Abu Talha]

Hello Everyone, I should state up front that I am very new to the things I am going to ask here and may sound stupid at one or more instances. Here is the situation I am in: I recently bought my first big screen that is a used HD Ready LG Plasma TV (42PJ350r). This TV has a USB port which is capable of playing movies in *.avi format. But my source of movies (my local area network movie shearing server) has most of the movies in *.mkv format. I am able to convert *.mkv format in *.avi format using video converter tools but the problem is that picture quality of the movie in *.mkv format is much higher than that of *.avi. I watch movies in *.mkv format on my PC 19 inch LCD or on my mobile 5 inch screen and they look great on both screens. But when I watch converted *.avi format movie on my 42 inch Plasma TV, they look washed out. When I change TV aspect ratio to "Original" movies looked acceptable but not as great as on my PC or mobile. I understand that HD Ready is only 1024 x 768 pixels screen but from the statements of other owners of this TV (in the age of year 2010 - 2012) it sounds like movies should look at least acceptable quality on TV, when stretched to full screen viewing. One more confusing thing is that my TV HD Ready resolution is 1024 x 768 and standard HD Ready i.e. 720P resolution is 1280 x 720. Is this difference in resolution can also hamper tv in playing true 720P content? Though I tried my best to state the situation and facts as well as I can but may be my question is not clear and understandable for answering. Do let me know if you need more input from my side.

[Baldrick]

How do you convert to AVI? Do you keep the HD frame size/resolution(1280x720 pixels or higher)? Or are you converting to 720x576pixels? If you have no idea can you check the resolution in the avi with Mediainfo.


And your TV might only support avi with SD video(around 720x576 pixels).

[Abu Talha]

I have tried converting movies in AVI HD format i.e. 1280 x 720 pixels but TV does not recognize the file and display an error statement like "can not play file" Files converted in 720 x 576 pixels run ok but they are not even acceptable quality when viewing at full screen. I am quoting these resolutions from native windows data. When select (single click) on the file, frame width and height appears on the bottom information bar of windows. I have read on forum specified for my TV model that people do watch 720p and also 1080i movies on this TV. But I don't know what input source they use for watching these high resolutions, may be that source is from a DVD player connected through HDMI cable or from a PC connected through standard RGB port and not from the USB source input... Does my statement make any sense? Is it so that TV can accept and play 720p/1080i movies direct from DVD player or other input source but not from USB input source?

[jagabo]

Every TV accepts 720p and 1080i from an HDMI via HDMI. But HDMI video is uncompressed. It sounds like your TV only accepts AVI files of720x576 or less, and probably only encoded with Divx/Xvid. If that's the case you should get an external media player that can play your HD MKV files. Many Blu-ray players have that ability. Or something like a Western Digital WD TV.

[Abu Talha]

My TV does display something like Divx/Xvid registration code on the USB media payne in the TV on-screen menu. Does it mean it will not play 720p and 1080i movies at all from any input source or would it be able to play 720p and 1080i movies from a Blu-ray player's USB input source. If it can play *.mkv files in real good picture quality without the need of converting file extensions, please recommend me a not-expensive but good for all purpose Blu-ray player?

[mail2tom]

In case you did not receive an owner's manual (since it is a "used" TV) you can access one online here:

http://www.manualslib.com/manual/236091/Lg-42pj350.html#manual

It gives the file formats and technical specifications for what video formats are supported via USB.

[jagabo]

The manual I saw said specifically "SD Divx AVI" and "max 720x480 29.97 fps, or 720x576 25 fps." It also mentions MPEG 1 and MPEG 2, presumably with the same limitations. That's not unusual for that era.

[Abu Talha]

Are these limitations only for usb play back, right? And I can watch movies in 720p/1080i once usb is plucked in a blu ray player capable of playing .mkv files (fingers crossed)

[DB83]

Right.

It will be the player that processes the video. So you check the capabilities of the player before you buy. Your tv is limited in what it can process direct from USB.

[jagabo]

Are these limitations only for usb play back, right?

Yes.

And I can watch movies in 720p/1080i once usb is plucked in a blu ray player capable of playing .mkv files (fingers crossed)

Yes. Of course, your TV is only capable of 1024x768 resolution. So you won't get as sharp a picture as a 1920x1080 display would give.

[Abu Talha]

That's a relief I bought this tv only to watch movies in good picture quality on a big screen. Can you recommend some good reliable player capable of playing .mkv files?

[Abu Talha]

I think at a viewing distance of 10 - 12 feets, I won't be able to see much difference between 720p and 1080p and also it's my first HDTV so I suppose everything will look good to my eyes

[Moralez]

That's a relief I bought this tv only to watch movies in good picture quality on a big screen. Can you recommend some good reliable player capable of playing .mkv files?

Try the Micca Speck G2 1080p Full-HD Ultra Portable Digital Media Player For USB Drives and SD/SDHC Cards.
$39.95 on Amazon.

[Abu Talha]

Micca Speck G2 seems a good product but it has a lot of 1 star reviews due to the reason that player not working after few months in operation...

[Moralez]

Micca Speck G2 seems a good product but it has a lot of 1 star reviews due to the reason that player not working after few months in operation...

I'm not recommending the Micca Spec G2 but I do own the Micca MPLAY-HD device, which is no longer produced, and I have had absolutely no problems with it. The Micca Spec G2 has 2,173 reviews on Amazon of which 8% (174) gave it a rating of 1 for various reasons and 66% gave it five stars. The odds are in your favor of it working and I do understand what 1 star ratings do to a person. I'm not immune to them.

Do a search for USB media players and see if there isn't something out there that you'll feel comfortable with owning.

[jagabo]

One thing I consider important is ethernet and/or wifi for network share access. There are lots of linux/android/kodi based devices now.

[DB83]

Micca Speck G2 seems a good product but it has a lot of 1 star reviews due to the reason that player not working after few months in operation...

I'm not recommending the Micca Spec G2 but I do own the Micca MPLAY-HD device, which is no longer produced, and I have had absolutely no problems with it. The Micca Spec G2 has 2,173 reviews on Amazon of which 8% (174) gave it a rating of 1 for various reasons and 66% gave it five stars. The odds are in your favor of it working and I do understand what 1 star ratings do to a person. I'm not immune to them.

Do a search for USB media players and see if there isn't something out there that you'll feel comfortable with owning.

Jeez man. If you, personally, cannot recommend something then why suggest it ?

A recommendation should be for a unit that you have actually used and not something you have thrown up by some search or whatever. We can all do that.

[Abu Talha]

I have found WD TV Live Streaming media player. It is costing me about $65. Anyone has used it? Any recommendation about this gadget?

[Moralez]

Jeez man. If you, personally, cannot recommend something then why suggest it ?

A recommendation should be for a unit that you have actually used and not something you have thrown up by some search or whatever. We can all do that.[/QUOTE]

Having a bad day are we.

[jagabo]

I have found WD TV Live Streaming media player. It is costing me about $65. Anyone has used it? Any recommendation about this gadget?

I have an WDTV Live from 2010. Version 1.4 as described here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD_TV

It's not perfect but plays most files without problems. I don't know how the current version compares.

[Abu Talha]

The version I am asking for is from 2014. Can you please explain "it's not perfect"?

[jagabo]

Can you please explain "it's not perfect"?

It took WD a year or so of updates to come out with a firmware release that didn't play some videos jerky, with A/V sync problems, etc. I'd say 99 percent of the videos I have (many downloaded from the internet) play properly now. Some are slow to seek when you FF or RW. I think you'll find all players have these sorts of problems. The UI is nothing fancy but it's adequate for maneuvering through nested folders of thousands of files (I have about 6 TB of videos on a NAS). The remote is too small and has too few functions. But the newer versions have a better remote.

[Abu Talha]

I think it's decent device in the decent price. I will get the device in an hour and will run it tonight. I will post updates once it's running.

[Abu Talha]

I got the device last night. Setting it up was easy and fast. It was plugging in HDMI cable and power and that's all. There's a guide in the box as well but no user manual. I tried playing .mkv files on WD TV Live streaming media player and it played right away, without any problem. I watched MI-6 and it was as good as watching in a cinema I did not get chance to connect the device with internet, I will try it today and will post an update.