T10. USB Flash Drives for TV

USB flash drives are increasingly being used with TVs for convenient access to video, audio, and image files. This setup allows users to enjoy their media files directly on their TV screens without additional devices.

However, there are times when a TV fails to recognize the files on a USB flash drive. What could be causing this issue? Typically, it boils down to two common compatibility problems:

  1. USB Device Format Incompatibility: The file system format of the USB drive (e.g., FAT32, exFAT, or NTFS) may not be supported by the TV.
  2. Media File Format Incompatibility: The media files (e.g., video, audio, or image formats) on the USB drive may not match the TV’s supported file formats.

To resolve this, it’s essential to determine which USB file systems and media file types are supported by your TV.

To make it easier, we’ve compiled a detailed guide covering the compatibility requirements for popular TV brands, including Sony, Samsung, VIZIO, and TCL.

This resource will help you troubleshoot and enjoy seamless playback of your media files on your TV.

    1. USB Flash Drives for Sony TV

      Supported Video type: .mpg, .m2t;
      Supported Music: .MP3;
      Supported Image: .jpg, .jpeg

    2. USB for SAMSUNG TV

      Your Samsung TV supports a large range of Picture, Video, and Music file types. There are some restriction to the file types (resolution, codec, frame rates, bit rate, etc) which can be found in the charts below. However, there are no limitations to file size.

      Supported “Picture” File Formats

      File Extension
      Type
      Max Resolution
      *.jpg; *.jpeg
      JPEG
      15360 x 8640
      *.png
      PNG
      4096 x 4096
      *.bmp
      BMP
      4096 x 4096
      *.mpo
      MPO
      15360 x 8640

      Supported “Music” File Formats

      File Extension
      Type
      Codec
      Comments
      *.mp3
      MPEG
      MPEG1 Audio Layer 3
      *.m4a
      *.mpa
      *.aac
      MPEG4
      AAC
      *.flac
      FLAC
      FLAC
      Supports up to 2 channel
      *.ogg
      OGG
      Vorbis
      Supports up to 2 channel
      *.wma
      WMA
      WMA
      WMA 10 Pro supports up to 5.1 channel. WMA lossless audio is not supported. Supports up to M2 profile
      *.wav
      wav
      wav
      *.mid
      *.midi
      midi
      midi
      type 0 and  type 1 are supported
      *.ape
      ape
      ape

      Supported “Video” File Formats

      File Extension
      Container
      Video Codec
      Resolution
      Frame Rate (fps)
      Bit Rate (Mbps)
      Audio Codec
      *.avi
      *.mkv
      *.asf
      *.wmv
      *.mp4
      *.3gp
      *.vro
      *.mpg
      *.mpeg
      *.ts
      *.trp
      *.mov
      *.flv
      *.vob
      *.svi
      *.m2ts
      AVI
      MKV
      ASF
      MP4
      3GP
      MOV
      FLV
      VRO
      TS
      SVAF
      Divx 3.11/ 4 / 5 / 6
      1920 x 1080
      (WMV v7, v8, MSMPEG4 v3 1280 x 720)
      6~30
      30
      AC3
      LPCM
      ADPCM (IMA, MS)
      AAC
      HE-AAC
      WMA
      DD+
      MPEG(MP3)
      MPEG SP/ASP
      H.264 BP/MP/HP
      Motion JPEG
      Microsoft MPEG-4 v3
      Windows Media Video v7, v8, v9
      MPEG2
      MPEG1
      VP6
      640 x 480
      4
      MVC
      24/25/30
      60
      *.webm
      WebM
      VP8
      1920 x 1080
      6~30
      20
      Vorbis
      *s4ud
      TS
      H.264
      3840 x 2160
      24/25/30
      AC3

    3. Flash Drive for VIZIO TV

       MP4 format:  encode the video file should be H.264, and the audio codec should be AAC.

    4. USB Drive for TCL TV

      Supported USB devices formats: FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, EXT2, EXT3, or HFS+.
      Supported Media Types:
      Video – H.264/AVC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV)
      Audio – AAC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV); MP3(.MP3, .MKV); WMA (.ASF, .WMA, .MKV), FLAC (.FLAC, .MKV), PCM (.WAV, .MKV, .MP4, .MOV), AC3/EAC3 (.MKV,.MP4. .MOV, .AC3), DTS (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV,.DTS), ALAC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV, .M4A)
      *4K Video – H.265/HEVC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV); VP9 (.MKV)
      Playlists –.M3U, .M3U8
      Image – JPG, PNG, GIF (non-animated)
      * H.265/HEVC supported only on Roku devices that support 4K.

Hope it helps. If the issue remains, please check the manual or site of the TV manufacturer. Please feel free to write to us about your experience on this issue, to help us get more on-site experience to share with the other users.

Published by HU