How to play videos on my TV

[Rouved]

I'm having some trouble finding a way to play my home videos on my TV. I didn't want to use streaming devices such as TV Boxes or Chromecast, because I'd like to keep my internet connection fairly unobstructed.

The only thing that comes to mind is a DVD player or something, but I'd like to know if you guys have any smarter alternative.

A device that would allow me to play videos from a pen would be gold.

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

[PopsicleHustler]

Plex? You can just stream any video from your PC to a TV.

[harryk]

Simplest answer: plug your computer directly into the TV

 

Is there a reason you don't want to use any wireless solutions? Even a modest wireless router should have no trouble handling a video stream from your computer to your TV via Chromecast or similar. 

 

2 hours ago, Rouved said:

A device that would allow me to play videos from a pen would be gold.

Pen?

[tikker]

5 hours ago, Rouved said:

A device that would allow me to play videos from a pen would be gold.

If they are in the right format (e.g. mp4 usually), the TV should be happy to play it from an external medium (assuming you have a smart tv that has a USB port). Otherwise something like Plex could be worth a look.

 

3 hours ago, harryk said:

Pen?

Pen drive probably?

[Rouved]

4 hours ago, harryk said:

Simplest answer: plug your computer directly into the TV

 

Is there a reason you don't want to use any wireless solutions? Even a modest wireless router should have no trouble handling a video stream from your computer to your TV via Chromecast or similar. 

 

Pen?

I can’t use a computer to play the videos and can’t use WiFi either. And I meant pen drive

[Rouved]

1 hour ago, tikker said:

If they are in the right format (e.g. mp4 usually), the TV should be happy to play it from an external medium (assuming you have a smart tv that has a USB port). Otherwise something like Plex could be worth a look.

 

Pen drive probably?

The TV is fairly old. Has a bunch of input options and a Service Only USB.

Yes, I meant pen drive.

[harryk]

1 hour ago, Rouved said:

The TV is fairly old. Has a bunch of input options and a Service Only USB.

Yes, I meant pen drive.

Many blu ray players now include USB ports with the ability to play video files from an attached drive. There are also these devices which are essentially USB drive readers with an HDMI output. A warning though that these players and devices can only read a limited number of file types.

[Biomecanoid]

An android TV box will play everything from wifi, ethernet, usb and connects to TV with HDMI cost from 50$ to 150$

[carb0nxl]

Wait, so what format are the home videos in? Are they VHS tapes? Have they been digitized to video formats such as .AVI files or .MP4 files, etc... ? or do you have DVDs? 

 

either way: if you have tapes, you're just gonna have to get the appropriate player (DVD player for your DVDs if that's what you have)

 

Also, you mentioned a "service USB" port. Does the port literally say "Service"? Because that makes me suspect, due to the age of the TV you implied, it's not actually just a standard USB port, it may only be made for reading service firmware / software updates, etc... 

[dalekphalm]

On 1/24/2020 at 7:19 AM, Rouved said:

I'm having some trouble finding a way to play my home videos on my TV. I didn't want to use streaming devices such as TV Boxes or Chromecast, because I'd like to keep my internet connection fairly unobstructed.

The only thing that comes to mind is a DVD player or something, but I'd like to know if you guys have any smarter alternative.

A device that would allow me to play videos from a pen would be gold.

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

If you're looking for a permanent device, you could get something like a Pi - or any computer, really. Game consoles and most newer DVD/Blu-ray players would also probably work (depends on what codec/container your videos use).

 

In the "old days", most streaming boxes also had USB ports just for this purpose, but that's not much of a thing anymore.

[dalekphalm]

On 1/24/2020 at 1:57 PM, Rouved said:

I can’t use a computer to play the videos and can’t use WiFi either. And I meant pen drive

I have questions:

 

1.

Why exactly can't you use a computer?

 

2.

What format are the videos in?

 

3.

By pen drive, do you mean "normal USB Flash Drive"?

[Rouved]

On 1/31/2020 at 12:33 AM, dalekphalm said:

I have questions:

 

1.

Why exactly can't you use a computer?

 

2.

What format are the videos in?

 

3.

By pen drive, do you mean "normal USB Flash Drive"?

1. I can't afford a dedicated computer to play the videos;

2. They are all in .mp4;

3. Yes, I meant a normal USB. We at school refer to them as "pen", so I called it "pen drive" here.

[dalekphalm]

2 hours ago, Rouved said:

1. I can't afford a dedicated computer to play the videos;

You can't afford a Raspberry Pi?

2 hours ago, Rouved said:

2. They are all in .mp4;

Okay that's good - what Codec? H.264/AVC? Or something else.

2 hours ago, Rouved said:

3. Yes, I meant a normal USB. We at school refer to them as "pen", so I called it "pen drive" here.

Just clarifying. There are many terms used to describe a USB Flash Drive, and not all of them are common worldwide.

 

I'd say your best bet is to buy a used PC for like $50, or to buy a Raspberry Pi.

 

Sure you could buy a DVD player with MP4 playback, but you'll inevitably run into issues with codec support or it not liking that exact version of MP4 that you're trying to play. Plus, the menu and interface will be garbage anyway.

[AZ Hobo]

https://picclick.com/?q=media+box