Using the USB Socket on a BT Vision Box

BT Vision Box USB Sockets?

“I have BT Vision Terrestrial Integrated Digital Receiver & Digital Video Recorder and would like to watch movies from my hard disk pendrive using USB port – is this possible? What am I supposed to do, because my BT Vision does not see my pendrive.”

Question submitted online by Maciek

Our Answer

Sorry, but at the moment, the USB sockets on the BT Vision set-top boxes aren’t functional. We understand that the official line from BT is that they are “reserved for future use”.

When BT Vision first launched, there were rumours that the two USB sockets on the back of the original grey BT Vision box would be used for external hardware, with a number of possible uses being rumoured at the time. These included: connection of a webcam or an external keyboard, for displaying photos from a USB stick, or for connecting to some kind of home security system.

USB Socket on Rear Of First Generation BT Vision Box

USB Socket on Rear Of First Generation BT Vision Box

We’re not aware of any firm published plans for the USB sockets on BT Vision boxes. The newer black BT Vision boxes now only have one USB socket on the rear, compared with two on the earlier models, which would seem to indicate that plans for the USB sockets have been scaled back.

USB Socket on Rear of the Black, second-generation BT Vision Box

USB Socket on Rear of the Black, second-generation BT Vision Box

The USB sockets are powered, so you can use them to charge a mobile phone or other connected device, but sadly it seems that
they can’t use used for copying off video, playing back media on your telly, for a wireless dongle, or for anything else clever.

That may of course change in the future!

If you’ve found a novel use for the USB sockets on the rear of a BT Vision box, or have heard any rumours about what these may be used for, we’d love to hear from you, so please add a comment below.

This entry was posted in BT Vision.

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