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Need External HDD with HDMI Port.

31 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/need-external-hdd-with-hdmi-port.155546/

ajayritik
ajayritik Original post #1
Apr 14, 2012 at 10:08 AM
I recently purchased a Samsung 46" TV and looking to watch movies on this. I have couple of pen drives but it's very cumbersome every time to copy a video onto the pen drive and then play it over the TV. Also it takes more than 30 mins to copy an 8 GB file. Do we have any External HDD available in the market with an HDMI port so that I can copy the videos,clips directly on to the HDD and play it. I was also thinking about connecting the TV to the router and maybe playing the content of my Desktop PC however since my PC doesn't have an HDMI outlet so I can't view HD content.

Any suggestions?
sukesh1090
Apr 14, 2012 at 11:40 AM
there is no external HDD with HDMI port in the market.you can play the videos in your HDD by connecting through USB port of the TV.for connecting you PC to the TV either you should have VGA/HDMI port in your TV and you should have HDMI port on your PC.if they doesn't have then you can get a converter from HDMI to vga and you can use it to connect the TV to PC.
ajayritik
Apr 15, 2012 at 12:12 AM
If I connect the external hdd directly to the TV using USB will there be any loss in quality. Should I instead dump it onto my laptop and connect using HDMI.
sukesh1090
Apr 15, 2012 at 1:25 AM
nope it will have very good quality if your video is of high quality.if the video which you have in the HDD will have HD resolution then you will have treat to your eyes.if your video is not of good quality then even connecting with your laptop will also won't help you to get good video.so at last the quality of the video which you have is important.
G
Apr 15, 2012 at 2:13 AM
I have a sata/ide hdd to external hard disk converte(USB)... will u b interested
Krow
Krow #6
Apr 15, 2012 at 2:20 AM
Have you looked at options like Xtreamer or WD TV Hub? If you can get one of those then you would be able to dump movies on the device and play. Check them out.
d6bmg
d6bmg #7
Apr 15, 2012 at 12:28 PM
If I connect the external hdd directly to the TV using USB will there be any loss in quality. Should I instead dump it onto my laptop and connect using HDMI.

Connect HDD directly to TV's USB port. It will work flawlessly for the supported extensions.
This IS the only & best way. USB ports are there in the TV only for this purpose.
ajayritik
Apr 16, 2012 at 10:49 AM
nope it will have very good quality if your video is of high quality.if the video which you have in the HDD will have HD resolution then you will have treat to your eyes.if your video is not of good quality then even connecting with your laptop will also won't help you to get good video.so at last the quality of the video which you have is important.
Thanks for the details.
Have you looked at options like Xtreamer or WD TV Hub? If you can get one of those then you would be able to dump movies on the device and play. Check them out.
Well right now my Samsung TV plays most of the formats. So right now I wouldn't want to invest on these. Since primarily most of the formats are being played.
Connect HDD directly to TV's USB port. It will work flawlessly for the supported extensions.
This IS the only & best way. USB ports are there in the TV only for this purpose.
Unfortunately I don't have an external HDD right now.

My question to d6bmg & sukesh1090
If I connect HDD directly to the TV Vs connect the laptop with HDMI cable.
Which among this is better quality wise?

Also one of my friends had said that there is some device which lets you connect the internal HDD and then has a USB outlet so that I can plug to my PC. However I think it supports only SATA HDD. Is there anything like this for IDE HDD as well. I have couple of IDE HDD's lying maybe I can use them.
I think it is SEDNA and saw that in primeabgb
H
hsr #9
Apr 16, 2012 at 2:24 PM
Re: Need External HDD with HDMI Port, seriously?

I think your friend is lying, people lie, everybody lies.

And there was some converter for hdd to hdmi, I have one, it's a Lenovo z570, but hey that's me :cool:
ajayritik
ajayritik #10
Apr 16, 2012 at 3:15 PM
Re: Need External HDD with HDMI Port, seriously?

I think your friend is lying, people lie, everybody lies.
Bro are you kidding?
W
Apr 17, 2012 at 12:34 AM
If I connect HDD directly to the TV Vs connect the laptop with HDMI cable.
Which among this is better quality wise?
depends on how proficient you consider yourself regarding configuring various audio/video software settings.to give you an idea if you don't know the details of RBG limited range 16-235 vs full range 0-255 & their relation with graphics driver & tv black level settings,changing lcd tv refresh rate to match or reach closest video fps,using madvr/avisynth/frame interpolation etc then connecting hdd directly to tv is a better option & using laptop is for when tv does not support certain video files.of course if you know your stuff nothing beats the flexibility of a pc/laptop to get best possible quality.

as for hdd any thing which can convert a hdd to a usb device will work with lcd tv if it supports external hdd.there are usb enclosures for both sata & ide hdd.
dashing.sujay
Apr 17, 2012 at 5:35 AM
it takes more than 30 mins to copy an 8 GB file.

On first hand, change your pen drive. You own probably the slowest on earth (don't tell me its cruzer).

Get a JetFlash/Voyager, and all will be done under 10 mins.
Cilus
Cilus #13
Apr 17, 2012 at 7:04 AM
ajayritik, your friend is not lying but actually provided half the info. These are HDD based Media Players which does have an Internal HDD , very good interface, outputs like multiple HDMI outputs etc. Now most of them have one or multiple USB ports where you can connect your Pen Drive as well as your external HDDs.
Check it here: GADGETS - Media Players - www.deltapage.com
skeletor
skeletor #14
Apr 17, 2012 at 7:31 AM
If I connect the external hdd directly to the TV using USB will there be any loss in quality. Should I instead dump it onto my laptop and connect using HDMI.
This is a weird question imo. Quality "as per say" will be same.

You just get few post processing controls via media player software in a PC.
M
Minion #15
Apr 17, 2012 at 10:11 AM
Invest in external HDD and use it to store your movie collection use usb to connect it to T.V
S
Apr 17, 2012 at 10:24 AM
I recently purchased a Samsung 46" TV and looking to watch movies on this. I have couple of pen drives but it's very cumbersome every time to copy a video onto the pen drive and then play it over the TV. Also it takes more than 30 mins to copy an 8 GB file. Do we have any External HDD available in the market with an HDMI port so that I can copy the videos,clips directly on to the HDD and play it. I was also thinking about connecting the TV to the router and maybe playing the content of my Desktop PC however since my PC doesn't have an HDMI outlet so I can't view HD content.

Any suggestions?

kindly mention the model you purchased.

most of the latest LED/LCD TVs have USB port which supports external HDD.
and play quality is nearly same as what you will get with HDMI .
these have inbuilt HD video processing engine.

i have samsung 32 inch LED TV and it works well with seagate freeagent external HDD.i am able to play most of the video formats.
ajayritik
ajayritik #17
Apr 17, 2012 at 11:48 AM
kindly mention the model you purchased.

most of the latest LED/LCD TVs have USB port which supports external HDD.
and play quality is nearly same as what you will get with HDMI .
these have inbuilt HD video processing engine.

i have samsung 32 inch LED TV and it works well with seagate freeagent external HDD.i am able to play most of the video formats.
This is the TV.
SAMSUNG - 46" Class (45.9" Diag.) LED 6000 Series Smart TV customer reviews - product reviews - read top consumer ratings

On first hand, change your pen drive. You own probably the slowest on earth (don't tell me its cruzer).

Get a JetFlash/Voyager, and all will be done under 10 mins.

Earlier I had posted a query asking about which pen drive I should buy but most of them were saying Saandisk.

Invest in external HDD and use it to store your movie collection use usb to connect it to T.V
Currently don't have the budget to get an external HDD.
as for hdd any thing which can convert a hdd to a usb device will work with lcd tv if it supports external hdd.there are usb enclosures for both sata & ide hdd.

Thanks for your advice.
dashing.sujay
Apr 17, 2012 at 1:43 PM
I'm really sorry for you but kill them who suggested sandisk. Its the worst pen drive. For god sake change it.
Zangetsu
Zangetsu #19
Apr 17, 2012 at 1:46 PM
Also one of my friends had said that there is some device which lets you connect the internal HDD and then has a USB outlet so that I can plug to my PC. However I think it supports only SATA HDD. Is there anything like this for IDE HDD as well. I have couple of IDE HDD's lying maybe I can use them.

Yes its the external casing for making interal IDE/Sata to external.I use one for IDE.
ajayritik
ajayritik #20
Apr 17, 2012 at 4:02 PM
Yes its the external casing for making interal IDE/Sata to external.I use one for IDE.

Actually I did purchase one External Casing for Internal HDD which was China made had a tough time making it work and finally had to return it.
Also as mentioned before the friend who suggested was saying the casing which more looked like a docking station will enable USB 3.0 I think that is the reason why its over 1k. The other normal External casings I believe are around Rs 500.
d6bmg
d6bmg #21
Apr 17, 2012 at 7:42 PM
Yes, your friend is right.
USB3.0 external casing/docking station costs around 1.5-3K. Considering that fact the price is quite good!
Cilus
Cilus #22
Apr 17, 2012 at 9:20 PM
AFAIK, most of the LCD TVs with USB ports can't decode movie formats having 6 or 8 channel DTS audio. For that you need a HDD based Media Player. Most of the Bluray rips downloaded from Internet do come with 6 channel DTS audio which might need to be converted into 2 channel audio or 6 channel AC3 audio to be played properly.
ajayritik
ajayritik #23
Apr 18, 2012 at 10:46 AM
AFAIK, most of the LCD TVs with USB ports can't decode movie formats having 6 or 8 channel DTS audio. For that you need a HDD based Media Player. Most of the Bluray rips downloaded from Internet do come with 6 channel DTS audio which might need to be converted into 2 channel audio or 6 channel AC3 audio to be played properly.

How can I check these technical details in the rips? Any suggestions?
I opted for Samsung TV over Sony since Samsung could play more formats compared to Sony hence save me from investing on a Media player atleast for sometime.

But looks like I would still need a HDD Media player.
S_V
S_V #24
Apr 18, 2012 at 12:16 PM
@Ajay

For your Topic Question.. There's no HDMI port for External Casing HDD and

Second... When plugging USB devices and Playing directly from TV, you will not have any problems and yes of course the quality will be good But the Colors will not be upto the mark compared to When Playing through Blu-Ray Players or through PC HDMI or DVI (Ofcourse with little enhancements ) .With PC, in Players enabling Shaders will bring your movies more Colorful but still with good Natural Colors.

Example... If you use TotalMediaTheater or PowerDVD, especially TotalmediaTheater brings Movies into life than through TV USB's. It brings awesome Black Levels and Contrast which looks 2x times better than playing directly from TV USB's. Sometimes not all the Blu-Ray MoVies will have reasonable Noise. Especially Recently released MoVie "The Awakening" does have very Bad Noise Pixels and With PowerDVD options such as Noise Reduction you can Bring Decent Quality. Also through Media PLayer Classic you can enable Shaders especially 16-235 -> 0-255 [SD][HD] and see the Black Level Difference on and off. With Simple Shortcut you can on and off while playing Movie. Similarly you can add more shaders and bring your Old Videos to life.....
These are the main advantages you can get playing through PC than compared to USB plugging... It's not that through USB you will Loose Quality.. But Once you are used to these Players and watching through USB is like "you can't watch it anymore".
Also get the most of the Quality from High End HDTV's is what I am saying overall.

This feedBack is coming from the Guy who Watched Lots, lots of MoVees through PC and USB in HD Displays...


Rest it's all on you to Choose depending on the usage and Flexibility suits you.......

How can I check these technical details in the rips? Any suggestions?
I opted for Samsung TV over Sony since Samsung could play more formats compared to Sony hence save me from investing on a Media player atleast for sometime.

But looks like I would still need a HDD Media player.

You can still Play all the Formats without HDD Media Player through your TV. When you are not using External Home Theater you don't have to worry about Sound Channels Becoz with TV Crap speakers you can't expect them to sound Awesome.
W
Apr 18, 2012 at 7:24 PM
@S_V,not all brands supports all formats.LG didn't paid the royalty for using DTS so its TV's can't play DTS audio(except korea region where it has an agreement to provide DTS passthrough support).DTS technology is licensed so only companies which pay the licensing fees can use it in their products.samsung has support for regular DTS(not sure about passthrough or direct playback) as it paid the licensing fees but not DTS-HD i think which will require additional payment.
S_V
S_V #26
Apr 18, 2012 at 10:22 PM
@Whitestar

I am talking about his Model only..... and I don't mean all the Brands. Read his statement again about samsung and Sony difference.. so I meant to say his TV can play all the Formats....
Zangetsu
Zangetsu #27
Apr 19, 2012 at 12:50 AM
@ajayritik: u can buy cheaper media players such as acryan or asus to serve basic needs
ajayritik
ajayritik #28
Apr 19, 2012 at 11:57 AM
@ajayritik: u can buy cheaper media players such as acryan or asus to serve basic needs

I don't plan to buy any media player as of now. Since most of the formats are playable in my TV now. Will plan for it sometime later.
G
Apr 19, 2012 at 12:48 PM
I think this would help if you have galaxy S II

MHL to HDMI
ajayritik
ajayritik #31
Apr 20, 2012 at 5:58 PM
I'm really sorry for you but kill them who suggested sandisk. Its the worst pen drive. For god sake change it.

Well I'm still trying to search for those folks. Will try to do that pretty soon!
And also it was really bad on my part to check with the shop guys. I had the below options

Sandisk
Kingston
Transcend.

I know for sure that Corsair is a good brand. Can you give me more inputs on Transcend Jet Flash and Corsair. I may buy another one pretty soon which supports USB 3.0