Sorry if this doesn’t belong here, more than happy to be pointed in the right direction if it doesn’t.

I wanna do movie nights with friends where we watch movies together in the living room on my TV. I have a DVD player and VCR I got from the thrift shop as well as a few movies for both. However, I was thinking it would also be fun to expand the options available by downloading a bunch of public domain movies to play on the TV. Only issue is figuring how I’d work that all out.

The TV lacks any network connectivity features. While it has a USB slot, it can literally only detect pictures and set them up for slideshows. Even tried putting some video files on to test and it won’t detect at all. Also because my computer is a desktop, connecting it directly to the TV from the other room is a no-go.

Is there some sort of device that serves this kind of purpose? Like something I can download videos to, and then connect it to my TV in a similar sense you would a DVD or VCR and be able to choose the content on the device using a remote? I’d really appreciate the help and pointers if this is something that exists.

  • insomniac_lemon@lemmy.cafe
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    19 hours ago

    If something like USB doesn’t show your video, it may be too new of a codec (it may want mp4 or mpg or avi or wmv (mov or m4v?), not webm or mkv etc).

    One thing to consider may be media-capable consoles (PS3/Xbox 360? and newer). Or an older computer, or maybe someone will be fine running it off of their laptop (or phone if you have a cord/casting).

    You may want to use some sort of server (simple HTTP, perhaps even a media server) if you have a video-capable (+network-capable) device that does not have enough storage. You may need to do firewall/port stuff for that (fixed local address), though it might be more convenient in some cases.

    • Binzy_Boi@lemmy.caOP
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      19 hours ago

      I think you’re misunderstanding, the TV’s firmware literally states that it can only be used for photos. I tried accessing both webm and mp4 to try my luck, but nothing.

      • andrewta@lemmy.world
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        18 hours ago

        Not sure how you got down voted for stating the specs of your TV

        As another commenter said. Maybe get a cheap laptop and play the videos through hdmi