TV & Home Theater

[alijoseph]

Very informative thread.

[PamKeher]

I hope someone finds my message.
I have a lot of movies on my Seagate 1 TB external hard drive and I plug that into my WD TV Media Player which supports all files, which is then plugged into the back of the TV in the HDMI  USB port and although I can see all of the movies when I'm connected to the PC from the Seagate external hard drive,  some of the movies don't show up on the TV, especailly if they're over 2GB.
It's very frustrating and I'm wondering if it's my TV ( Panasonic Vierra about 15 years old )
Could it be my TV doesn't support large files ? It has HD TV, HDMI and Dolby Digital on the front.
Do I need something else plugged in to support the larger files ?
It's too old for streaming I think and wifi ?
I'm not very good when it comes to these sorts of things.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

[PamKeher]

I forgot to add that my WD TV won't connect to the internet either, through the TV.

[Mariah-BBY Retired: Social Media Specialist]

Hi PamKeher,

Thank you for posting to our community! I appreciate the time you’ve taken to share your issues with playing content from your WD Hard Drive. I’d be happy to see what troubleshooting advice I can provide to you.

Do you know the model number of your TV? Or by chance do have the original owner’s manual. As previously shared in this thread your TV may be only capable of reading select formats. To be honest due to the age of your TV it may not support many formats, and the file size may be the issue.

You’re welcome to make your TV smart by using a streaming device that will connect via an HDMI port, or USB port. You can browse our selection of those here.

Respectfully,

[PamKeher]

Hi Mariah,
Thank you for getting back to me.

My Panasonic TV was actually manufactured in 2008 - model number is TH - 42PX8A and serial number yc 8420303.
Power Rated 220 - 240 V 50/60 Hz 335.

I'm not sure if that will help you.
I'm playing the movies through my external hard drive, and then through my Wester Digital Media Player which is plugged into the HDMI port at the back o the TV.
Most movies do play but those over 2GB won't even show up on the TV although when I plug the external hard drive into my computer, I can see them.
My TV isn't connected to the internet or wifi, as when I try to set it up through the WD TV media player, it tells me it can't find my internet or wifi. ( probably because it's an old TV )
I can take photos of the process if you think it would help ? 

Thanks again.

[PamKeher]

My WD TV Media Player plays all media files on the TV ( DTS,  MPEG, XVID, MKV, JPEG, AVI, ISO/VOB, MOV, MP4, WMV and much more.  )

Perhaps I should plug the WDTV into my computer and connect it to my home network ?
Perhaps it will connect to the internet on the TV then ?
I'm not sure if that will make any difference to the movies over 2GB working though but I can try.

[Mariah-BBY Retired: Social Media Specialist]

Hello PamKeher,

Thank you for confirming your TV model for me! I took a peek into the manual, and I’m not seeing that there’s a file size limit.

The only way to have your TV catch Wifi, or connect to the internet to stream would be using an streaming device. Upon reviewing your TV to be honest it may be the size of the video that’s causing the issue. Your WDTV should have an Ethernet port in the back of it to connect directly to your router. It may need to be updated, and is why it keeps asking you to connect to the internet.

Have you tried to connect your WDTV to an alternative TV to see if those shows, and movies over 2GB show up? That is also a troubleshooting step we can take to pinpoint to determine if it’s your TV.  

You can try to connect your WDTV to your computer to see if it needs an update. That’s also an option. Please let me know how those troubleshooting steps go!

Kindly,

[PamKeher]

Hello Mariah,
Thank you for your help again.
I did manage to get onto the internet and wifi to the TV but the buffering was taking forever and I gave up.
I think I'll have to get someone who can show me other options.

[Mariah-BBY Retired: Social Media Specialist]

Pam,

You’re very welcome! I hope you’re able to figure it out. Your local Best Buy is always happy to help you answer your questions too.

Respectfully,

[miofl]

I had same issue. Thanks you Mariah. I was looking for answer for 6 days. In the end I found solution here