Jul172011

How can I connect a hard disk to a Sony Bravia TV with HDMI port?

avisek bera asks:

I have a 500GB hard disk and I need to connect it to my Sony Bravia. It has a HDMI port. So how to connect?



Comments for this Question are closed.

If you are looking for help, please ask a new question here.

We will be happy to help you!

10 Answers -

0 votes

Mike

July 17, 2011

Most Bravia models do have an USB Port so you could connect the Hard Disk to it this way ~ if it’s a “raw” drive for internal use you can buy some cheap external case with a USB connector.

If your Bravia does have network connectivity you should be able to stream to it using UPnP/DLNA ~ this could be done e.g. via Windows Media Player and should be explained within the manual of the TV.Other then that you will need some sort of Media Center in between where you connect the Hard Drive to. Preferably this Media Center device/system should have an HDMI output for best quality results but S-Video/Component will work too.

Brian

I’m interested in this question, I have a Bravia also with HDMI ports but no USB, it’s only the newer models that have USB.
Even if I connect my laptop via HDMI I can’t get sound from a video although I used the same setup staying at a hotel and it worked perfectly.

July 18, 2011
Mike

For sound it depends on the type of cable used and whether both laptop and TV support the HDMI standard.

With HDMI 1.1 only DVD-Audio can be transmitted via the HDMI cable. For other audio codecs you will need at least HDMI 1.3 support and cables.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI

As for a Media Center use the MUO search and you will find a lot of stuff about it which will answer a lot of questions. 
For example you can setup an entire computer as a media center, buy a media center box (e.g. Popcorn Hour) or a simple external Hard Drive which is media enabled (multimedia drives).

July 18, 2011
0 votes

James Bruce

July 19, 2011

Avisek, you cant connect a hard disk through HDMI. As Mike said, you’ll need a USB port in order to access files on there. If you don’t have a USB port, you can’t do it. 

Your best option is to connect your computer to the TV instead, and use it to play your media. 

0 votes

Muthukumar

August 19, 2011

I have 200GB hard disk which i have tried to connect my hard disk via USB of Sony Bravia new model it’s not recognizing the USB device. Then please reply me if there is any way to connect my hard disk to my Sony Bravia LCD TV with any way to watch the media’s and photo’s

Bwool

I have a new Sony Bravia also, I have 3 different brand Hard Drives, the
oldest one which is 320 gb is the only one the TV recognises, not much
you can do, if you can get hold of an older drive you’ll probably find
it more compatible, I found a similar situation with my PC’s (about 7)
some will run the drives and others want to format.

August 19, 2011
Tina

Brian and Muthukumar,

the problem probably lies within the file system your external hard drives are formatted in. We had a similar question before, please check out the answers here: http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/watch-movies-sony-bravia-led-tv-1tb-external-hard-drive/

August 21, 2011
0 votes

Alamzeb Khan

November 3, 2011

HI

I have recently purchased Haier LCD Model 26T51. It has HDMI port. I want to connect my USB and want to watch those videos which i have in my USB. Now my question is that is it possible or is  there any way to connect my USB with my newly purchased Haier LCD? Does i will need any extra device for converting USB into HDMI because i have tried to put in USB in HDMI port but it slot was not fit for that purpose.

i will anxiously wait for your kind assistance. Regards

James Bruce

If you’d like to post this as a new question, you’ll get a better response.

And no, you can only plug a USB device into a USB port, and a HDMI plug into a HDMI port. There is no way to ‘convert’ USB signal into HDMI. 

HDMI is an audio-visual signal, USB is a data signal. The two are very much not compatible. 

Looking at this product page for your specific TV: http://ktc.en.alibaba.com/product/331910233-50092535/26inch_LCD_TV_26T51.html It appears there *is* a USB port there somewhere, however it can only be used to display JPG pictures and MP3 audio files – so you’re out of luck for video. 

November 5, 2011
0 votes

Sidney

November 23, 2011

When connecting a USB drive directly to a T.V, majority of the LCD TV’s available support a limited range of formats, many don’t cater for the vast array of video and image formats we’ve got in the market nowadays (.avi, mp4, matroska) or (png, bmp), and so on, It may be simpler to connect your laptop and output your LCD TV’s signal out directly as you would with a projector using a standard VGA cable.

0 votes

Zeb_18pk

December 2, 2011

thanks james for your kind assistance

0 votes

Rin

March 19, 2012

How can i connect this Hard disc to my HDMI or USB PORT. Any connector can solve my prob?

James Bruce

You cant connect a hard disk to an HDMI port, thats for video, not data. If you hard disk has a USB port on it, you should have got a USB cable with it, plug that into the USB port. If you hard disk doesnt have a USB port, then obviously its not going to connect to the USB on your tv. 

March 19, 2012
0 votes

Oron Joffe

April 21, 2012

It would be best to check your TV’s manual and see what it says. There are many too many variables for a generic answer, and unless one of the contributors has this specific TV and has used it in this particular way then we won’t know the answer for sure.
What to look for: is the USB connection for intended for a hard disc? If so, is it only for recording and replaying via the TV (this is the “RAW” mode Mike mentions at the top), or can it also take PC discs. If it can read PC discs, what format do they need to be in – FAT32, ExFAT, something else? What video formats are recognised? In other words, look for chapters about USB, hard disc and recording.

0 votes

Bruce Epper

April 22, 2012

Is it not recognizing the device itself or is it not recognizing any files on the device?  For movie files, it will only recognize MPEG1 or MPEG2 (only MPEG1 Layer II audio codec).  If the files are not in either of those 2 formats and there are no MP3 or JPEG files on it, it will indicate that there is nothing it can do with the device since there is no supported media on it.

0 votes

Aibek

April 22, 2012

I was trying to do the same thing in the past and it didn’t work.
I later found out that not all TV s are able to read data off the hard drive.
In my case I could easily stream vide from the USB Flash thumbdrive but not the
USB external drives.