How To Watch Movies From Hard Drive On Your TV

Have a great TV and a computer hard drive loaded up with movies and you want to know how to watch movies from your hard drive on your TV? There are a number of easy ways to do it, so you're in luck! You can go down a few different roads, depending on the equipment you have available. For example, if you have a PlayStation 3 or and Apple TV box (among a few other options), you can wirelessly send your movies from your hard drive to your TV. Some TVs have the ability to play movies and music from external media (such as a hard or flash drive). If these don't do it for you, there's always a few more direct options!

To watch movies from your hard drive on your TV, you will need:

Computer hard drive with at least one movie
TV

You will also need (in order of most to least reliable and compatible):

Method 1:

A computer with audio/visual outputs that match your television. Preferably HDMI, though DVI or VGA outputs will do as well if your television allows separate computer sound input.
A cable of appropriate length for your setup. One HDMI cable will do, though if using DVI or VGA, an 1/8" audio cable is required in the same length.

Method 2:

Playstation 3, Apple TV, Slingbox, or other device capable of streaming movies from a separate source
Internet connection for each of your devices

Method 3:

Flash drive
TV that supports external media through USB

Picked your method and ready to start watching movies from your hard drive on your TV?

Method 1:

With your computer and television off, connect the computer and television using the appropriate cable(s). If you have an HDMI connection, use only the HDMI cable. If you have VGA or DVI, run the cable to the TV, then run an 1/8" audio cable from the headphone port on your computer to the Computer Audio Input port on your television.
Power on your television and switch the input to the port you just connected.
Power on your computer. The computer will treat the television as a computer monitor, so in the display settings on the computer, configure the system to duplicate your display or to display only on the television. Consult your owner's manual for specifics related to your operating system.
Play the movie as you normally would. Play in fullscreen mode and it will be just like watching a DVD!

Method 2:

Because of the huge variety of equipment and setups available, consult your user's manual for your streaming device.
If you use Windows 7, you already have most of the system pre-configured. Other operating systems may require more software, depending on the device you use.
Note that you may encounter strange compatibility problems. Apple especially is notorious for what it will and will not play.

Method 3:

Copy your hard drive movies to your flash drive.
Insert the flash drive into your television's media USB port.
The television should auto-display a menu. Select your movie and enjoy!
Again, consulting the television owner's manual will help smooth any problems, though you can expect to run in to an incredible amount of compatibility issues.

Hey man, nice post!!!

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Method 3:

Flash drive
TV that supports external media through USB

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Side note regarding Method 3:

Most flash thumb drives are formatted in the FAT32 format (most, not all!). This format has a maximum file size of 4GB per file. Meaning, those who enjoy HD movies know that this is barely half the size of a good quality release. Keep that in mind when choosing this method.

Additional note: XBOX360 & PS3 will play media off of a FAT32 formatted drive.

However, as TV's are advancing in technology many can now read various codec files in the NTFS format. This format has no cap to the size of each individual file.

NOTE: Most 2.5" external HDD's come formatted in NTFS

METHOD Dojavenger:

I have 2 separate 2TB external hard drives that I keep plugged into my Samsung TV and it reads almost every codec that i've ever thrown at it. Samsung handles NTFS & FAT32 formatting as well as both AC3 and DTS audio. This is the best method for viewing & listening, in my opinion.

Other people I know have purchased stand-alone "smart" blu-ray players that have a USB input. Many of those even can read NTFS formatted drives. Meaning you don't need to buy a brand new tv to play off your external drive.

Like-Reppppppped

personally i use a hp proliant microserver N40L that i have turned into a MediaCenter PC. I use OPENELEC as the OS. It runs XBMC like a champ!

Beware of Cineva protection when using some devices like playstations

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Originally Posted by AxelDg

Beware of Cineva protection when using some devices like playstations

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Yeah Cineva protection sucks!

My Samsung tv/surround-sound system unfortunatly can read the cineva watermarking and disables my audio during the playback as a result.

I've only come across it on 2 or 3 movies in my history of torrenting. One of which being recently with "Captain Phillips" Every single different file I downloaded got audio-disabled after 20 mins into the movie. So the industry hasnt really latched on to Cineva's watermarking technology in masses yet. Hopefully they don't. It seems to be a pretty good anti piracy deterrant, assuming that more hardware could read the cineva watermark.

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Originally Posted by dojavenger

Yeah Cineva protection sucks!

My Samsung tv/surround-sound system unfortunatly can read the cineva watermarking and disables my audio during the playback as a result.

I've only come across it on 2 or 3 movies in my history of torrenting. One of which being recently with "Captain Phillips" Every single different file I downloaded got audio-disabled after 20 mins into the movie. So the industry hasnt really latched on to Cineva's watermarking technology in masses yet. Hopefully they don't. It seems to be a pretty good anti piracy deterrant, assuming that more hardware could read the cineva watermark.

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best thing is to avoid using playstations/xbox's or anything else that uses cineva. The best way to watch your media is to make a mediacenter pc. You can use an old computer or buy one for under 100 bucks. http://mymediaexperience.com/ is a great place to start.

Nah @AxelDg,

Like I said, Its only rarely ever been a problem for me. Unless things begin to change with more companies taking on the cineva watermark reading technologies on their components, the best way to go for me is buy a 4TB hard drive, load it up with my media collection and plug that bad boy right into my tv/surround-sound system.

Just bought a WD livetv hub media box for my dad. Plays any video codec, video/audio is as good as the format you download in. Paid 65 shipped!

For me, i'll stick with the method that makes the most sense for my set-up. :p

We'll see about this Cineva situation - Seems like a Samsung & Sony venture. Cheers to it falling apart! :beer:

I also have got 4 x WD TvLive's around my house and i use my main computer to share to the media players

It's really easy all you need to do is right click on the drive's that you want to share and share the drive.

Then download PS3 Media Server and it's free to download ;)

Open up PS3 Media Server and then add the drive that you just shared

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Originally Posted by insideman

I also have got 4 x WD TvLive's around my house and i use my main computer to share to the media players

It's really easy all you need to do is right click on the drive's that you want to share and share the drive.

Then download PS3 Media Server and it's free to download ;)

Open up PS3 Media Server and then add the drive that you just shared

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Well if it works then great. Im a huge fan of XBMC tho i love it. Just hook the thing up to your network and its all there. I have an HP Proliant Microserver N40l that i converted to a media center. I followed this guide step by step Milkmans Guide

Its a beast. Its kind of an old guide. I built mine a couple years back. I wish this Milkman guide would make a new one. Things have changed a lil bit. Nowadays you can stream alot so its not really needed to have all that space. So its not for everyone. But i love it. I have four 3TB internal hard drives and 4 externals of varying size hooked up loaded with media.

@AxelDg are you able to stream content at 1080p with your setup?

Also, does it support 5.1 surround audio?

That would be a must for me.

I have a Windows 8 machine with Windows Media Center on it that I share all my content from. So I have the same content available on all 4 TVs in my house.

I have 2 Samsung Smart TVs which support DLNA, so I can connect to the media center using that. I have a Vizio Smart TV that connects to that through DLNA as well. The Samsungs are better though because they support more audio/video codecs than the Vizio. The fourth TV is an old POS with a Sony media streaming box connected that lets me access everything on the Media Center PC as well.

Also for the members that have TVs that support DLNA and a network connection(WIFI or cable) I recommend Serviio and Plex for streaming. Plex needs Smart TV as extra ofr installing. There are more media servers programs, but these 2 are very stable.

Sent from my Q5 using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by dojavenger

@AxelDg are you able to stream content at 1080p with your setup?

Also, does it support 5.1 surround audio?

That would be a must for me.

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lol hell yeah bud. its got 3d, livetv, and a shitton of stuff i cant use yet. idk what it cant support bud.

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Originally Posted by dojavenger

@AxelDg are you able to stream content at 1080p with your setup?

Also, does it support 5.1 surround audio?

That would be a must for me.

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I didnt answer your question very good. Yes it will play any 1080p file of any size. I can play the 50gb bluray file movies with no stutter, lag, or buffer of any kind. Thats the reason i started using xbmc in first place was because of this. It will play any audio setup. I use 5.1. Wish you could see it. I use the MQ5 skin which is beautiful, I have a second screen tablet that can be used as a remote or second screen. I love it cuz when youre watching a movie you will be like shit who is that actor, look on second screen and get all info on the cast/writer/director without pausing movie. There are soooo many apps and customizations for xbmc its insane. OPENELEC for my OS is linux based trimmed down to only run XBMC and serve as a mediacenter. So its lightning fast. I prefer to download all my media and then watch it but there are thousands of streaming apps where you can stream anything, music, video, live sports, live cable, streetcams from all over the world. Its insane all the stuff it can do really. No matter what system you buy I 100% reccomend OPENELEC's xbmc. Its awesome.

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Originally Posted by AxelDg

I didnt answer your question very good. Yes it will play any 1080p file of any size. I can play the 50gb bluray file movies with no stutter, lag, or buffer of any kind. Thats the reason i started using xbmc in first place was because of this. It will play any audio setup. I use 5.1. Wish you could see it. I use the MQ5 skin which is beautiful, I have a second screen tablet that can be used as a remote or second screen. I love it cuz when youre watching a movie you will be like shit who is that actor, look on second screen and get all info on the cast/writer/director without pausing movie. There are soooo many apps and customizations for xbmc its insane. OPENELEC for my OS is linux based trimmed down to only run XBMC and serve as a mediacenter. So its lightning fast. I prefer to download all my media and then watch it but there are thousands of streaming apps where you can stream anything, music, video, live sports, live cable, streetcams from all over the world. Its insane all the stuff it can do really. No matter what system you buy I 100% reccomend OPENELEC's xbmc. Its awesome.

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This is very interesting. I've never heard of xbmc. I started off back in the day using my xbox as a media player to my downloads and a buddy of mine had a popcorn hour, so I naturally gravitated to loading up external drives and playing through some sort of media box.

Per your xbmx referencing, I stumbled onto these $35 raspberry pi machines to be used on my secondary "non smart" LED tv's as monitors. Do you have any experience with them? They also run xbmc... Very interested in this. :thumbs_up:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dojavenger

This is very interesting. I've never heard of xbmc. I started off back in the day using my xbox as a media player to my downloads and a buddy of mine had a popcorn hour, so I naturally gravitated to loading up external drives and playing through some sort of media box.

Per your xbmx referencing, I stumbled onto these $35 raspberry pi machines to be used on my secondary "non smart" LED tv's as monitors. Do you have any experience with them? They also run xbmc... Very interested in this. :thumbs_up:

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Yeah funny you should mention Xbox. Thats where XBMC has its roots. people realized xbox's made good media players so came out with XBMC. OK the rasberry pi's are pretty popular cuz they are pretty cheap but they are limited from what ive heard. Maybe this link will shed light on that: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-ras...and-cannot-do/

Raspberry pi's do use OPENELEC as the OS which is good. any other OS it prolly wouldnt work well. Any system you build you can install OPENELEC on. Its so tiny you can even run it off of a usb stick to check it out. I have no idea why anyone would want to use any other OS for their mediacenter. They are all bloated with crap you dont need. Raspberry Pi was really popular cuz it was cheap. Nowadays ppl are all about using Ouya. Its supposed to be a lot better than the pi and its under $100 also.

XBMC is great. When it comes to media center setups most ppl use PLEX or XBMC. I know little about plex cuz there is no need XBMC does it all for me and ive heard plex is limited. but you can run xbmc on every OS. JUst the fastest on OPENELEC.