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Question

Why won’t my Hisense tv playback 4K content from USB?

Jun 13, 2018 5:46AM PDT

I recently bought the 2018 Hisense P6 50, and I am experimenting with downloading 4K content. I am using a 3.0 USB drive connected to the 3.0 USB port in the tv. Using the same USB drive I would use to playback a 1080p film (which the tv plays perfectly), it will not for a 4K file. I have a feeling it is because the file is too large and the tv is struggling to encode/decode it. The tv recognises the file, and I can select it to be played, however it then says it’s loading (spinning blue wheel) for about 10 seconds, and then just nothing. Cannot play, pause, fast forward, nothing.

File details:
Approx 30 gigabyte file at 3860 x 2160p - 170mins in length
HEVC x265 mkv file type (yes the tv can play x265 files and does fine for 1080p files).
The file has approx 21 megabit per second bit rate for the film

Important also to note that I have download smaller 4K files (approx 7-13gb) and the tv has played these fine

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Usually the same thing.
Jun 13, 2018 8:53AM PDT

The player in the TV doesn't understand this title. The TV makers usually don't support such as far too often the content was pirated so all the makers don't offer support.

The short answer is the title isn't compatible with the TV's player.

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Answer
Using a USB drive is not ideal
Jun 14, 2018 6:41AM PDT

Even these latest 4K HDTVs have limitations. If you need arguably more computer compatible features, use a cheap laptop, VLC and HDMI cable.

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Answer
Try converting the MKV
Sep 2, 2018 5:34PM PDT

On my Hisense, I had some MKVs playing perfectly fine and others that didn't play at all. The thumbnail would show but opening the file wouldn't play anything, and then pressing Info on the remote would show either no metadata or the last video played.

For one video, I used MKVToolNix (GUI) to remove TrueHD Atmos, disable all header compression, and then Hybrid to remux it with passthrough on all, into M2TS. It only takes about ten minutes to remux on my PC.

If you want to confirm your theory on the large file, try playing the sample videos of the same rip.

Post was last edited on September 2, 2018 5:35 PM PDT

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Maybe, however...
Sep 4, 2018 11:23AM PDT

...the OP’s question boils down to ‘why won’t my HDTV provide the same functionality as my PC’.

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Try converting the MKV
Sep 4, 2018 10:31PM PDT

No need to be obtuse, the question has been answered above; the player is incompatible with the particular file. This boils down to whether it is the video, audio, other, or a combination that is incompatible. When this incompatibility in the source file is rectified, it plays perfectly fine through the built-in media player, i.e. it will play 4k and HDR.

Further, I didn't respond solely for the OP's benefit, rather this is one of the top search results for "Hisense", "4K" and "won't". Thus, anybody else who has a similar question can derive the answer from this thread.

For everyone else, I've also installed Plex to help determine what incompatibilities exist between the source and player. Plex does on-the-fly transcoding if anything is incompatible so it will still play, however Plex transcoding loses HDR if any transcoding is done. You can see what/if it is transcoding from the server side. It's cheaper than getting a separate media player but requires more fiddling about with remuxing. Alternatively if you are not playing HDR content, or are happy to watch it without, Plex should be able to just stream it through the Hisense>Plex app.

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If you want to get into it.
Sep 4, 2018 12:09PM PDT

I continue to find folk that exclaim "It plays fine on my laptop." These Smart TVs can't rival a PC and VLC Player it seems.