After finding out that your favorite movie is on TV, you’ve planned your evening on the sofa at home, eating popcorn in total relaxation. Suddenly he remembered that that same night he had promised some friends to go out to dinner, but he doesn’t want to miss his favorite movie and is looking for a solution that will allow him to watch it as soon as he gets home. I guessed? Well, then you need to know that if you don’t intend to dust off your old video recorder or rely on video on demand services, you can take advantage of the USB stick recording function.
Not everyone knows that the latest generation TVs allow you to record TV programs directly onto USB sticks, with the possibility of setting up a recording timer even when the TV is off. How do you say? Not sure if your TV supports this feature? Don’t worry, with today’s guide I’ll show you how to record a movie from TV to pendrive even on older television models that don’t have a standard USB port.
So let’s go, let’s not waste any more time talking and let’s get to work: dedicate another five minutes to reading the next paragraphs, carefully follow the instructions that I am about to give you and choose the solution that you think is best for your needs. I am sure that you will be able to enjoy your relaxing evening without any time restrictions. Happy reading and, above all, happy viewing!
TV with USB socket
The latest generation TVs have one or more “standard” USB ports and some models are enabled to record the content transmitted on the TV on external media, such as hard disks or USB sticks.
To find out if your TV has this function, you need to consult the device’s user manual or check if there is a sticker next to the USB port (located on the back or side of the TV) with the inscription HDD Rec , USB Rec/Play , USB Recording, PVR (Personal Video Recorder) or DVR (Digital Video Recorder).
Once you’ve verified that your TV is USB enabled for recording to a USB stick, you’re ready to go. Then take your pen drive, insert it into one of the available USB sockets and a window will automatically open to initialize the pen drive with the TV.
Otherwise, manually access the television menu by pressing the appropriate button on the remote control (usually the Menu or Home button ), select the Settings item, find the USB recording section and start the drive format procedure. In fact, to take advantage of the pendrive’s recording function, it is necessary to initialize the pendrive that will be formatted in a proprietary format to guarantee the protection of the content in terms of copyright. This means that recorded videos cannot be played back on computers or other TV models.
Then proceed with the formatting, making sure that the key to be used does not contain important files: in fact, initializing USB support involves deleting all files present on it.
Once formatting is complete, you are ready to record movies from TV to USB stick. Then tune to the channel you want to record and press the red button (or the Rec button ) on the remote control to start recording the program you are watching. To stop recording, however, press the red button again (on some TV models, press the Stop button identified by a white square ) and the recording will be automatically saved on the USB stick.
Alternatively, you can set a recording timer , which allows you to record a program that has not yet started, even when the TV is turned off. Then press the Guide button on the remote control, search for the movie you want to record, select it using the remote control arrows and press the red button to set the timer and start recording when the movie starts.
To view the recordings made, press the Menu button on the remote control, access the Media Player section of the TV and select the Recorded TV item to view the video files, then use the arrows to select the recording you want to watch and press the OK button to start playback. Alternatively, you can press the External Inputs button on your remote control (this is usually the button identified by an arrow inside a rectangle), select the USB option and press the OK button to access the video recording list.
In conclusion, you should know that video recording quality and recordable channels (digital, radio, analogue) change from model to model of TV. Therefore, I advise you to consult your TV’s user manual or the manufacturer’s website to find out all the details of the pendrive’s recording function.
TV without USB socket or not enabled for recording
Not all TVs with USB sockets have a recording function. However, through some devices to be inserted into the TV’s SCART socket, it is possible to record movies on a flash drive, and the same method is also valid for TVs not equipped with a “standard” USB input.
The solution to remedy this deficiency is to use a digital terrestrial decoder with USB input to be connected to the television through the SCART socket. Devices of this type, in fact, allow you to watch digital terrestrial channels, play the files contained on a flash drive and, in fact, record movies broadcast on TV on an external flash drive.
You should know, however, that there are also decoders with a USB input that are not capable of recording: before buying one of these devices, check if it supports recording to a USB stick (like those listed below).
After purchasing the device in question, connect it to the SCART socket on your TV, turn on both devices and insert the key into the USB port. To start recording, tune to the channel you want to record and press the Rec button on your set-top box remote, then press it again to stop recording.
Using a terrestrial digital decoder equipped with a USB input, you can record all the TV’s content even when it is turned off: the important thing is that the decoder always remains on. To view the recordings, just press the Menu button on the remote control and select the USB Movie item in the menu that opens.
Record with VCast
If your television is not capable of recording onto a pendrive and the alternative solutions I have proposed do not excite you, you can consider VCast : an online service that allows you to record all the programs transmitted by open terrestrial digital signal from broadcasters (excluding Mediaset channels ).
To use the service, connect to the VCast website and press the Login button in the upper right corner, then click on Register , enter your data in the fields Email , Password and Nickname , check next to Accept the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Conditions and presses the Register button. In a few moments you will receive an email containing a verification link: then press the Confirm email button to complete the activation procedure.
When creating a new account, you are entitled to a 15-day free trial of the Premium+ profile with all VCast features active. After this period, you can choose to continue for free with the option to record content in low definition for a total of 8 hours per month, otherwise you can subscribe to one of the subscriptions available from €2.60/month. Connect to the VCast website to compare prices and features of the various subscriptions available.
To set up a recording with VCast, log in to your account and click on the icon with the three horizontal lines at the top to access the TV Guide , then select the program you are interested in and press the item Record . Alternatively, access the Manual Schedule section (a round icon ), enter a title in the Recording Title field and click on the Choose a channel item to define the channel to be recorded, then select the cloud in which you want to save the recording (just like VCloud from VCast, you can connect your Dropbox, Google Drive, One Drive and PCloud accounts) and set recording resolution and format. Finally, indicate the start date, start time and end time of the recording, click the Record button and that’s it.
To view the list of recordings, click the cloud icon at the top and click the ▶︎ button to watch the recording in streaming. If your intention is to watch the recorded movie on TV via the USB stick, press the down arrow icon to download the recording to your computer, then transfer the file to your stick and insert it into your TV’s USB port to watch. For the detailed procedure, you can read my guide on how to view USB stick on TV.