You are able to connect an external USB storage device to your LG A3, B3, C3, G3 or Z3 through the television set’s USB port. By doing so, you can use your TV’s Media Player App to play compatible audio and video files located on the external storage.
If you are having issues trying to get your USB storage device to work properly with your TV, then you can take a look at this troubleshooting article from Seeking Tech.
Rated Voltage and Current
It is important to note that the USB port of your 2023 LG OLED has a rated voltage of 5V as well as a rated current of 500 mA.
So, if your USB device uses more than 5V of voltage and/or 500 mA of current, then it may not get recognized by your TV.
Of course, if your external drive requires a separate power source, then you need to plug it into a power outlet first before using it on your TV.
Compatible Formats
For an external storage to be compatible, it needs to be using the FAT32, exFAT or NTFS file systems. If you plug in a USB drive with a different format to your TV, then you will be prompted to format before you can use it.
Before doing so, make sure you transfer any important files you have on the USB drive as the formatting process will delete everything on it.
If you don’t see the format message on your television, then you can long press the Input Source button on the remote to go to the Home Hub menu. From there, you should be able to find and select the Format option.
Supported File Sizes
LG recommends that you use a USB storage with a capacity between 32 GB to 2 TB. Outside of this range, your A3, B3, C3, G3 or Z3 may not be able to properly detect the storage device.
If your USB storage drive appears to be compatible with your LG TV but is still not working properly, then you can try doing the following:
1. If you are using an extension cable or hub, then you can try removing it and then connect your USB storage device directly to the USB port of your television.
2. If possible, try to turn off and then turn back on your USB drive.
If the external drive is using a power saving mode, then it may not work with these OLEDs; therefore, you may need to power cycle the storage to use it again.
3. You can also try unplugging and then re-plugging the USB storage.
Before doing so, you need to long press the Input Source button to open the Home Hub. Once you get there, select the USB storage device icon at the top and then select Eject.
If you don’t eject before you unplug the USB storage, then it may cause data corruption and other issues.
4. If the audio and/or video files you are trying to play off of the external storage isn’t working, then you should make sure that the file extensions and codecs are supported by your TV.
You can find the compatibly lists with the following links:
5. You can also try reformatting your USB drive. If you can’t format through your television, then you should be able to do so by using a computer instead.
6. There is a possibility that your USB storage drive just isn’t compatible with the LG TV. In this case, you can try using a different device to see if that can be used without any issues.