Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

USB playback problems

by Aug 6, 2014 9:17AM PDT

Hey all. I've been having a problem with my LG TV recently.

A few days ago, I bought an external hard drive so I could connect it to my tv and watch movies/tv shows. TV episodes work fine, but I've been having annoyances with playback regarding movies. At around 30 minutes to 1 hour in, the movie suddenly stops and brings me back to the previous screen. I have no idea why it does this. The files work perfectly fine on my computer and my blu-ray player usb slot on another tv I own.

My LG model is 47LK520-UA. The hard drive is a Toshiba 1TB, if you need to know. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Discussion is locked

3 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details
- Collapse -
Answer
Sadly true.
by Forum moderator Aug 6, 2014 9:21AM PDT

As part of what some think is a form of anti-piracy, playback does indeed stop on many files at random times. There's also no standard encoding so what works in one TV won't in the next.

As it stands these TV players are a minefield of issues. I find HANDBRAKE often is OK to re-encode. But your average consumer may be too unsettled about all this and just return the TV.
Bob

- Collapse -
Interesting
by Homestuck6 Aug 6, 2014 9:27AM PDT

Thanks for the response!

It's still somewhat confusing to me. Some files work while others don't. I use Freemake Video Converter to do all my re-encoding to .mp4. My Blu-ray player is also an LG model, and it plays these files all the way through. Odd!

If things can't be fixed, I suppose that's ok. I always have my blu-ray player and my computer, as well as purchasing dvds when i have enough money and can't get them any other way.

Again, thanks for the quick reply!

- Collapse -
Nod to other players.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Aug 6, 2014 10:35AM PDT

Folk like other players like the WDTV. Here I can re-encode with Handbrake for free and sort it out. It's anyone's guess why this area is a mess however to me it's downright simple as some of my technical work (the job) included DVRs and more. What is the issue? Patents. Video encoding is for the most part a patent issue so the code to play files is usually locked down and if LG won't pay for the license well the decoders in the TV may be less than complete or even correct.

If you want to learn more, read how VLC PLAYER got past all the patents. They are in a country that does not recognize those patents.
Bob

Back to LG forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info