Playing files on your Xumo TV from a USB drive

  • Updated

Using a USB drive is a convenient method to play back your media files without needing complicated equipment or streaming services. You can store your photos, music, and videos on a USB drive and play them directly on your TV.

In this article, you'll learn: 

Accessing your media

  1. Connect your USB drive: Locate the USB port on your TV and insert your USB drive.
  2. Open the Media Player: Press the INPUT button on your remote, then select Media player from the list of inputs.

    Tip: You can also simply say "USB," "USB drive," or "media player" into your voice remote if your TV is activated and online.

  3. Select your drive: If you have multiple drives connected, use the navigation pad on your remote to navigate the list and SELECT to choose your desired drive, folder, or file.
  4. Pick a file: Choose the file you want to play.
  5. Return to the file list: Press BACK on your remote.

Playing video and audio files

When you select an audio or video file from the supported files on your drive, you will see playback controls with the following buttons:

  • Play/Pause
  • Skip back 10 seconds
  • Skip ahead 10 seconds
  • Restart

Important notes for audio playback:

  • Audio files will show a static image of grey bars over black background during playback.
  • There is no auto-play next video/audio file functionality. You must choose another file if you want to watch or listen to more content.

Viewing images and creating slideshows

When you select a supported image file, it will show the image full screen without cropping (after a brief distractor).

Navigating images:

  • Use the LEFT and RIGHT buttons on your remote to move to the next or previous image in the current folder.
  • Pressing UP, DOWN, or SELECT while viewing an image will show or hide the image information overlay.

Creating a slideshow:

To start a slideshow, press the PLAY/PAUSE button on the image information overlay. The media player will cycle through all images in the same folder.

Adjusting slideshow speed:

To adjust the slideshow speed, follow these steps:

  1. Go to the top-level menu in the media player.
  2. Choose "Media player settings."
  3. Adjust the "Slideshow speed" setting.

You can choose from three speeds:

  • Slow: 10 seconds
  • Medium: 6 seconds (default)
  • Fast: 4 seconds

Supported file and drive formats

Supported video formats

  • File types: MP4, TS
  • Picture Quality (Resolution): Your TV can play videos up to the highest quality it supports (for example, a 4K TV will play 4K videos).

    • For the best quality 4K videos, the file needs to be in the newer HEVC (h.265) format.
    • Standard 1080p video uses the common h.264 format.

    Note: Your TV works best with standard video sizes like 1080p and 4K.

  • Dynamic range: Same as your TV's setting.
  • Audio format: Same as your TV's setting.

Note: Closed captions (embedded or included with the mp4 as a stand-alone file) are not supported in the USB media player at this time.

Supported audio formats

  • File types: MP3, WAV

Supported image formats

  • File types: JPG, JPEG, PNG
  • Resolution: up to 7680 x 4320 (checked against either width or height of file)

Unsupported file types

Files with the following extensions will appear in the file browser as "unsupported":

  • tiff
  • tif
  • bmp
  • avi
  • m4a
  • flac
  • aac
  • wma
  • txt
  • bin
  • enc
  • mov

Note: If a file doesn't have one of the extensions listed above, and is not a supported file type, it won't appear at all.

Are there any restrictions on file or drive format?

Your USB drive must be formatted as EXFAT or FAT32.

Does my Xumo TV support USB playback or keyboards?

While Xumo TV supports media playback from USB drives, it does not support connecting a USB keyboard or a Bluetooth® keyboard for text entry.

A USB drive can also be used to update your TV's software if your TV isn't connected to the internet.

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