Your Tv's Usb Port Is Seriously Underutilized: 5 Features You're Not Taking Advantage Of

1 month ago

After nan first setup, astir group seldom prosecute straight pinch their smart TV. With wireless connectivity, telephone apps, and distant controls, there's small request to. Tucked adjacent to nan basal HDMI ports, a USB 2.0 larboard -- apt sitting unnoticed connected nan backmost aliases broadside sheet -- offers much imaginable than you mightiness expect.

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USB ports are easy to overlook, but they're a modular characteristic connected astir TVs -- and much useful than you mightiness think. Here are 5 clever ways to make nan astir of them.

1. Turn your TV into a slideshow aliases media player

Most caller TV models travel pinch a brace of USB 2.0 ports, and often a 3.0 larboard for faster information transfer. Your TV surface is apt bigger than your machine monitor, truthful why not usage it to carousel a assemblage of images aliases play videos?

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I attended a family gathering recently, and nan big utilized a 65-inch TV to do that very thing. The scanned pictures and videos looked and sounded awesome -- each accessed by simply plugging successful a USB flash drive.

Just astir immoderate type of outer difficult drive, thumb drive, aliases information instrumentality will usability arsenic if you plugged it into a laptop. Your TV will instantly admit a connected instrumentality and connection you a intends for accessing and navigating your media files.

If you want to programme your TV to play a slideshow erstwhile idle, there's a awesome use to keeping a flash thrust attached conscionable for that purpose. That benefit? Your media will not beryllium automatically transferred to nan TV's cache aliases soul retention because it will publication files straight from nan flash drive.

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By keeping nan files stored only connected nan drive, you won't request to walk clip duplicating and uploading them to nan TV. Moreover, your TV will convey you for performing amended since you're not clogging up its cache.

2. Transform your TV into a workstation

Ever find yourself pinch spreadsheets, documents, vector graphics, videos, and web pages crowding your machine monitor? That makes 2 of us.

The astir communal show size for creatives and professionals is 27 inches. Purchasing aggregate high-quality monitors (or oversized 32-inch panels) tin beryllium highly expensive. But if you're consenting to sacrifice a spot of colour accuracy and solution for much existent property on, say, a 55-inch TV screen, you tin employment a Bluetooth adapter to link wireless peripherals for illustration a rodent aliases keyboard.

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A larger show allows for much abstraction to multitask, activity connected analyzable designs, and position your discombobulating number of unfastened windows simultaneously. You'll request those peripheral devices to beryllium connected by USB to get nan activity done.

3. Make your aging TV stream-worthy

The seven-year-old TCL TV successful my chamber requires a streaming instrumentality to entree Prime Video, HBO Max, and different platforms. Many streaming devices, particularly newer ones, require a relationship to an A/C outlet for power. But some, specified arsenic earlier-generation Amazon Fire Sticks and Google Chromecasts, tin beryllium powered by nan TV while making it smarter.

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All streaming devices link straight to TVs via HDMI ports to function, but immoderate tin be powered by USB. My TCL, for example, has a Roku Streaming Stick attached by a short HDMI cablegram for information transportation and a short USB 2.0 cablegram for power. The streaming gadget that allows maine to entree nan net and watch Jordan Peele's Twilight Zone at nighttime is not plugged into nan wall astatine all. It is being fed by -- and feeding -- nan TV each astatine once.

I should statement that this is simply a less-than-ideal script because powering a instrumentality pinch its ain CPU and quad-core processor tin lead to issues for illustration overheating, interruptions, and underperformance. But it does work.

4. Charge USB devices if you're successful a pinch

In fact, you tin complaint conscionable astir immoderate instrumentality done your TV's USB larboard pinch nan due cable. Have you ever had to complaint your telephone by plugging it into a USB larboard connected your laptop? I've been there, too. You tin do nan aforesaid pinch your TV.

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The downside is that astir TV USB ports are designed for information transportation and powering low-energy devices, truthful they don't propulsion a batch of juice. This intends utilizing a TV arsenic a charging hub will beryllium comparatively slow, moreover for thing for illustration a console gaming controller. But again, if you're successful a existent bind, it's an option.

So effort to retrieve that your TV's USB ports are backmost location for a reason. You mightiness arsenic good usage them to entree media, summation nan inferior of your TV, and proviso powerfulness to outer devices.

5. Bonus: Updating software

It doesn't sound arsenic flashy arsenic nan different benefits connected this list, but if your smart TV doesn't person net aliases you're connected a non-smart TV, it's captious that you support nan package updated via a USB upload.

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Manufacturers often present upgraded features and functionality, improved performance, and bug fixes pinch nan occasional update, and you tin download nan latest package done dedicated support pages. Here's Samsung's, for example.

Search for your exemplary aliases merchandise name, download nan latest package record onto your USB drive, and plug nan thrust into your TV to upload it. You whitethorn request to restart your TV erstwhile each is said and done.