Will My Smart TV Play DVDs, MP4, AVI, MKVs? (Solved)

Back in the day, households used to have a TV, VHS or DVD player, and a stereo component to handle entertainment needs.

Now, the smart TV manages to do all those in a single device!

Will My Smart TV Play DVDs, MP4, AVI, MKVs?

Most Smart TVs are compatible with DVDs, MP4s, AVI, and MKVs. These TVs try to be as up-to-date as possible with all devices that the consumer will use or need, giving them the look and feel of an all-around experience for the user.

Here are some things you need to know about smart TVs and their file compatibility.

Table of Contents

Will my Smart TV Play my Media Files Such as DVDs and MP4 Files?

Most smart TVs like Sony and LG allow you to open DVD video files and MP4 files save in your USB storage, such as flash drives and external hard drives.

Likewise, if you intend to use your DVD player to watch DVD files on your smart TV, there won’t be much of an issue, as long as you have the appropriate ports.

Do New Smart TVs Come with DVD Players?

DVDs players are being phased out and replaced by digital file formats.

Since new smart TVs now have USB ports, and support mirror screening, you can now watch movies through these inputs.

Can Smart TVs Take Music from USB?

Smart TVs support an array of file formats such as MP3s, Wav, WMA, and even FLAC.

However, there are some smart TVs that have limited support for some formats, such as FLAC, which is usually reduced to two channels of audio.

What About Blu-Ray Discs?

You can play video files intended for Blu-Ray on your smart TV, as most smart TVs support the M2TS file type, which is associated with Blu-Ray.

We have a comparison here of Blu-Ray and 4K.

What File Formats are Supported with Smart TVs?

For audio, you can play MP3, WAVs, and WMA files without much problems.

For video, you can play MP4, AVI, and MKV files without any issues.

Your limitation is the codec used for these videos.

So, if you have a video but not in the codec prescribed by your smart TV, you will have issues playing them, such as no audio or video.

Aside from audio and video, you can also open image files with JPEG and PNG file extensions.

What Codecs do Smart TVs Use?

Smart TVs use much of the standard video and audio codecs like H.264 and Dolby Digital.

What Smart TV will Work with the Most File Formats?

If you want to invest in a smart TV with a good range of compatible file formats for media, you should get a Samsung smart TV.

Samsung has already clarified that it can play most audio and video formats with its codecs.

Another good alternative would be LG, as its compatibility list is very similar to Samsung.

What is the Safest Video File Format to Use on Your Smart TV?

The safest to use, meaning will have the least amount of compatible issues, would be MP4.

MP4 is used across different devices without any issue. Even smartphones record video in MP4 format.

It requires less space than other video file formats.

Also, some brands only recognize MP4 for video files, like Vizio.

Do Smart TVs Play Amazon Prime Videos?

All smart TVs that can play streaming services won’t have any issues playing Amazon Prime videos.

As long as you can install Amazon Prime on your smart TV, then you won’t have a problem.

What if your Smart TV Does not Support Your Resolution?

Your smart TV will convert it into a resolution that your smart TV can display.

So if you have a 4K-resolution video and your smart TV can only display at 1080p, your smart TV will convert the video to display correctly at 1080p.

You might expect a few problems, but for the most part, it will play it seamlessly.

The video conversion is only temporary, so don’t worry about the file being altered when you play it in another player.

In the case photos, smart TVs can try to convert photos to correctly fit the screen of your smart TV.

There may be a chance it won’t display correctly, so if you intend to use your smart TV as a screen to showcase your photos during a gathering, make sure you save them at an image resolution matched to the TV.

Can You Install Media Player Apps to Access Incompatible Files on Your External Storage?

Media players such as VLC are only meant to mirror or stream from your existing phone or computer.

It does not open video or audio files and only acts as a bridge between your TV and phone.

What File Format Should I use for my External Storage to Play Audio and Video?

You should use FAT32 for flash drives and NTFS for external hard drives.

These are the most common file formatting systems used for external computer storage, which makes the transition between computer to smart TV seamless.

If the storage you are using is below 32 GB, use FAT32. Anything higher, NTFS is recommended.