Olivier Nyssen asks:
I would like to view my movies from my Samsung hard disk on my Toshiba 32EL830 TV. Is this possible? Do I have to change the format of my hard disk? I work with a Mac.
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System: Mac
Tagged: connect to TV, external hard drive, hdtv, play video, samsung
System: Mac
Tagged: connect to TV, external hard drive, hdtv, play video, samsung
5 Answers -
C
June 22, 2012do you know the format of your movies? please reconfirm with your TV what type of format that it can play.
shaurya boogie
June 22, 2012yes if it is usb one.
FIDELIS
June 22, 2012Hello, I am assuming your Samsung is an external drive. If it is, what model is it? To be sure, your external drive would have to be formatted with FAT32 format. Some TVs, specially newer models are compatible with other formats. In your case, because you are using a Mac, I would say you would have to make sure your external drive is formatted with FAT. Your TV is able to play pictures, music and video through USB. I would advice you to download the manual from link provided below and look at pages 39 an up. From page 39 and up, it will show you what the TV can play with regards to pictures, music and video.
If it is not an external harddrive, you would have to connect your computer to your TV by using a VGA OR HDMI cable. You could also use the DVI connector in your TV as long as you use a HDMI to DVI adapter. This would mean that you would play the movies from your computer and they would be displayed in your TV(TV would be used as monitor). Keep in mind that you are using a VGA cable and you want to hear the sound on the TV’s speakers, you would need a separate cable for sound. This also applies if you use a HDMI to DVI converter. If you use HDMI cable to connect computer to TV this does not apply. HDMI provides video an sound.
With regards to your TV, you can download the user manual. Unfortunately for me, the site is in german and I do not speak the language. If you want to download the user manual in english, this is the link:
http://ch.consumer.toshiba.eu/de/articles/standard/om_media_26-32el83
Keep in mind that in the link provided, there are also links for manuals in other languates.
Perry Kahai
June 27, 2012First, a slight correction to Fidelis’ link to the English version of the manual:
http://ch.consumer.toshiba.eu/de/staticlist/om_media
Scroll through the list to find manual for this model, then click to download English version.
Now to your question. One, the external hard drive has to be formatted in the FAT32 format. Most consumer external drives probably are. However, if you connect the drive to your computer and check its properties, it will tell you the hard-drive format.
Two, Mac OS X supports reading from, and writing to, a hard drive in the FAT32 format. Once you check your hard drive as I suggested above, you should be able to determine if your Mac will be able to read/write this hard drive.
Three, your TV supports only certain video file types and it appears that the most used formats are supported (check the manual, pg. 43). As long as you have video files in these formats, you will be okay.
So, if all your ducks are lined-up (FAT32, OS X, and video formats), you should be good to go. The menu system in your TV gives you instructions to select the external hard drive, then the type of media to be played, followed by the folder your video is in.
As always, just as we always check if the computer is plugged-in to an electrical outlet, make sure you plug-in the hard drive into the TV with a USB cable. You don’t need to spend a huge amount on the cable itself but spend a few bucks to get a good cable at a reasonable price. I have used Monoprice and they give you the best bang for your buck (No, Monoprice has NOT paid me to advertise them).
Tony Batty
August 28, 2012From what I know and it may have change with some models of DVD or BD players, some can accept the HDD to play your movies from. But when it come to the TV’s I don’t know if that has changed, but I know only USB drives are allowed for the unit does not have enough power to support HDD’s for playback. I’d suggest you read your user manual carefully.