Play MKV files on TV from an external hard drive


Having troubles playing MKV video files on your TV through USB drive? You are absolutely not the only one. Those issues may happen due to various kinds of reasons. Searching online, you will find there are numerous problems regarding to playing MKV movies with a TV from an external hard drive/USB key. If you are in the same boat, just keep reading to learn how to get your TV playing MKV videos smoothly.
play .mkv files on USB stick directly to TV
How can I play MKV files on my TV through USB connection?
“Hey, guys, can anyone help? I have a new LCD TV with USB connection. I’m trying to play MKV movies stored on my external hard drive directly on my TV. Unfortunately, it seems that my TV doesn’t recognize MKV format. How can I play MKV files on my TV through USB connection? Any suggestions?”

Depending on your TV models, source video types/specs and much more, MKV playback on a TV may have different performances. If your MKV movie contains a codec that your TV doesn’t support (e.g. the new HEVC H.265 codec), you may fail to play it on your TV from USB port. In that case, you should strongly consider converting your MKV video to a format that is widely accepted by a TV, such as the H.264 codec encoded MP4. This requires a third party video converter app, like HD Video Converter. It just saves a lot of hassles when you find out that the thing won’t play when you plug the USB in. Read on to learn a simple guide on how to convert MKV to H.264 MP4 for playing on a TV through USB connection.

Software requirement
HD Video Converter (for both PC and Mac)
convert MKV movies to H.264 MP4 for viewing on TVplay MKV files on TV through USB

How to convert MKV to MP4 format for playing on TV via USB connection?

To do this:
Step 1: Install and run HD Video Converter as the best MKV to MP4 Converter. Click ‘Add File’ button to import MKV source media.
play MKV movies on external hard drive directly on TV

Step 2: Select H.264 MP4 as output format
From ‘Profile’ list, choose ‘HD H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Video (.mp4)’ as target format from ‘HD Video’ column.
play MKV movies on external hard drive directly on TV
Tips:
1. If you’ve loaded a number of video clips to do batch conversion, please do remember ticking off ‘Apply to All’ option before you start.
2. This converter comes with 4K output, so if your source MKV is 4K and your TV supports 4K H.264 MP4, you can choose it as target format from “4K Video” column.
convert mkv for tv

Step 3: Set advanced settings
If necessary, you can click ‘Settings’ button and go to ‘Profiles Settings’ panel to modify video and audio settings like video encoder, resolution, video bit rate, frame rate, aspect ratio, audio encoder, sample rate, audio bit rate, and audio channels. 3D settings are also available.
play MKV movies on external hard drive directly on TV

Step 4: Start MKV to MP4 Conversion for TV playback
When ready, click ‘Convert’ button to start conversion. As soon as the conversion is complete, you can click ‘Open Folder’ button to get the generated MP4 files easily.
Tips
If you don’t want to wait for the entire conversion process, you can tick off ‘Shutdown computer when conversion completed’ and go away to do other things.

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