As the title suggests, I have a 40 inch Sony Bravia LCD flatscreen TV. 

Its around 4 years old, it is rated for 1080p high definition output (also has HDMI input).

I have tv episodes etc on a portable USB hard drive, however the TV has no USB input.

I see that some DVD players have USB input, and there are also media players around such as WD Live TV boxes.


Picture and sound quality is important, any suggestions on the best means to be able to play my USB hard drive thru my TV. 
Does the USB input on DVD players result in a poor quality picture, and can they play multiple formats such as AVI, MKV and MPEG video?


Any user experiences appreciated. Thanks!