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After the initial setup, most people rarely engage directly with their smart TV. With wireless connectivity, phone apps, and remote controls, there's little need to. Tucked next to the essential HDMI ports, a USB 2.0 port -- likely sitting unnoticed on the back or side panel -- offers more potential than you might expect.
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USB ports are easy to overlook, but they're a standard feature on most TVs -- and more useful than you might think. Here are five clever ways to make the most of them.
1. Turn your TV into a slideshow or media player
Most new TV models come with a pair of USB 2.0 ports, and often a 3.0 port for faster data transfer. Your TV screen is likely bigger than your computer monitor, so why not use it to carousel a gallery of images or play videos?
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I attended a family gathering recently, and the host used a 65-inch TV to do that very thing. The scanned pictures and videos looked and sounded great -- all accessed by simply plugging in a USB flash drive.
Just about any type of external hard drive, thumb drive, or data stick will function as if you plugged it into a laptop. Your TV will immediately recognize a connected device and offer you a means for accessing and navigating your media files.
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