How to Distinguish DVD Player USB Ports

When making the decision to purchase a DVD player with USB ports, you should familiarize yourself with the different types of USB ports and how to tell them apart. The types of ports are different based on both their power supply rating and the type of default hard disk storage that they use. This will help in making the best choice based on the size of video files that you plan to transfer to the player.

USB Basics

USB is an abbreviation for Universal Serial Bus, and it has become the standard method of connecting your computer to an external device because of its superior file transfer speed. The latest USB cables are capable of transferring files at up to 480 megabits per second (Mbps), making them the ideal option for moving large video files from your PC to your DVD player that comes equipped with a USB port. Unlike USB ports as will be discussed, there are two main types of USB connectors on a cable that are easy to identify. Type A connectors plug into your computer, and Type B connectors plug into your DVD player. Portable USB flash drives are another popular option, though their storage capacity will need to be considered for video files. Some flash drives are capable of storing up to 12 full-length movie files. However, keep in mind that their cost increases along with their storage capabilities.  

Power Supply

Two more commonly found USB ports are rated with the numbers 1.1 and 2.0. Any computers or other USB devices made since 2000 come with USB 2.0. Both of these use a single wire to supply power in unit loads of 5 volts at a time. In USB 2.0 and above ports, volts are often interchangeably called unit loads with the abbreviation mA. Unit loads are measured as 100 mA at a time, and the most power a USB 2.0 port can transfer is 500 mA, or 5 unit loads. A newer USB port is 3.0, which can transfer up to 900 mA or 6 unit loads. It is important to note that these ports look physically identical, so it is important to check the documentation of a DVD player regarding USB port types before purchasing. If such information cannot be found online, the vendor should be able to provide it.

Storage Formats

When transferring video files from your PC to your DVD player, the default hard disk storage format is called NTFS; this needs to be changed to the format known as FAT32 before the USB transfer will work correctly. This can be done easily by selecting FAT32 from the list in the Disk Management tool in the Control Panel of your PC—your DVD player is usually identified as the E drive.  The next matter to consider is the file format of your video. If the video file you wish to transfer has the .avi extension, it is very easy to play it on your DVD player connected with a USB cable, since most recent players come with the encoding for .avi files already built in. To check this, make sure it states in the DVD player documentation that it supports the xvid/divx codec.