Just a few days ago, I almost posted the same idea. I also almost posted the idea of a device that you could plug into a regular TV that would have a USB port for this purpose. I looked online and found that many DVD players now come with USB ports, as well as many game systems. I still like the idea of a USB port on the TV, but a USB player that plugs into the TV makes it less valuable.

many, if not most, lcd and plasma tvs now have this feature, you plug in any usb storage device, thumb-drive, hard-drive, even the usb cable on most cameras, and the internal browser brings up the folders of the device, and most can see jpegs, bitmaps, etc. and play mp3, wav, and mov or wmp videos. some tvs even have memory card slots for sd cards, sony has memorystick slots. and many new dvd players have similar usb connections. I have even seen a yamaha surround processor that does all of this as well as having a network connection to remotely access your media files. so what is your idea, to do what the industry has been doing for a few years now?

I agree. Adding a USB port will save us from a lot of extra unnecessary equipment purchases. USB drives are so chap, that they can be used instead of CDs?

The problem isn't the cost of the USB socket--the reason they don't have them is because it requires a computer to talk to it. Modern TV's do have a processor and software, but not all of them.

If everything is online then , and you are going to put a powerful enough computer in the set, why not an Ethernet port also?

USB drives are more expensive than comparable optical capacity, and legitimate content sources aren't just that portable (with DRM and such).

Some sets do have USB, ans even Ethernet.

Sony TVs have had Memory Stick slots for about as long as MS has been around. Maybe if they'd stop pushing their proprietary formats all the time, this idea would have been implemented already. As it stands, I think the set-front Video 2 jacks were meant for this purpose, as every camera I've bought came with an RCA adapter cable.

This worked for me.

Purchase a DVD player with a USB port on the front.

Philips makes an awesome player.http://www.amazon.com/Philips-DVP5990-1080p-Upscaling-Player/dp/B00158OJ9O/ref=dp_ob_image_ce

Also my friend has one made by Oppo Digital.http://www.oppodigital.com/players.asp

Rip your DVDs onto your computer and then drag and drop the movie file or pictures onto your USB flash drive.

Or buy a external 500Gb to 1Tb USB hard drive and copy your movie files to the external hard drive and plus into your DVD player.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_e?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=usb+hard+drive

http://fruganomics.wordpress.com/

My wife and I already own a TV with USB port.

We bought it at Walmart last year.