Quick Time mov file too big to play through a Sony Smart TV

Question

Quick Time mov file too big to play through a Sony Smart TV

I have a 1 hour 39 minute screen recording from my Mac which is 84.63 Gb in size on an HDD. My Sony Smart TV cannot play a file bigger that 4Gb. The duration of the file is that of a modest cinema film. Such a cinema film fits comfortably onto a DVD at less than the 4Gb+ DVD capacity.

How can I shrink the mov file to less than 4 Gb

You may ask why I don't use some more 21st century methods

I have tried screen-mirroring but find that it has a significant sound / video sync problem which ruins the watching experience. This appears to be incurable in any settings in either my Mac or my Sony TV. The sound recording was via BlackHole as a virtual internal speaker instead of the poor quality via the Mac speaker to microphone method. Sound sync is perfect on my Mac

I have also tried AirPlay but despite my Mac and Sony TV both saying connected to each other and playing nothing plays - not sound, not video.

iMac (M1, 2021)

Posted on Oct 20, 2025 7:18 AM

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Answer 1

Phil0124

Level 10

216,680 points

Oct 20, 2025 9:46 AM in response to M0ndayTuesday

O.k, so what exactly happens when you try to play the video on the TV from the external drive?

Does it not play? Does it issue an error? If so, what does it say?

Is the drive not visible on the TV?

Where are you getting hung up exactly?

M0ndayTuesday wrote:

Thank you for your swift reply.

I have used a 2Tb HDD formatted exFAT by Mac Disc Utility app connecting by USB cable into the Sony Smart TV USB socket. The model number is KD-43X75WL and was manufactured Feb 2024

The 4Gb limit I found on the Sony website when I searched there for a solution to my problem.

That limit likely refers to the FAT file system limitation, not your TVs actual limitation or the exFAT limitation which supports files up to 256GB in size. Your 84GB file should have no problem existing on the drive and then being played from there as long as the TV supports the exFAT format for the drive and can access it and the video file is in a file format the TV can handle.

The Sony KD-43X75WL supports Quicktime MOV files, so that straight screen recordings should work.

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Answer 2

ohzi

Level 1

12 points

Nov 3, 2025 1:08 PM in response to M0ndayTuesday

get https://compress.app , go to custom settings and set the output to 4GB.

Compress automatically convert from .MOV files to .MP4 files

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Answer 3

Phil0124

Level 10

216,680 points

Oct 20, 2025 8:18 AM in response to M0ndayTuesday

I think the question that needs to be answered first, is how are you getting the movie to the TV?.

Because I don't think there is such a 4GB limitation on any current TV.

You may be talking about the limitation of FAT formatted usb drives for instance that cannot handle files larger than 4GB, but that is easily resolved by formatting the drive that has the video in a format that supports larger files. like exFAT.

If you explain exactly what you are doing, how you are getting the video on the TV, where it get's stuck and how you determined it has a 4GB limit, we may be able to advise. Also, provide the make and model of TV you are trying to play the video on.

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Answer 4

Oct 20, 2025 9:11 AM in response to Phil0124

Thank you for your swift reply.

I have used a 2Tb HDD formatted exFAT by Mac Disc Utility app connecting by USB cable into the Sony Smart TV USB socket. The model number is KD-43X75WL and was manufactured Feb 2024

The 4Gb limit I found on the Sony website when I searched there for a solution to my problem.

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Answer 5

Oct 20, 2025 12:54 PM in response to Phil0124

Thank you for getting me straight on the 4Gb issue. I have rechecked the Sony website and now understand my error.

I am now at the point where after 10 minutes of loading the 2 files, of c6Gb each, are visible in the USB app on the TV. I am have selected 1 of the files to play. It has been a blank screen since selecting play. After 10 minutes pressed enter on tv remote and found myself back at the play selection screen with nothing playing.

The files start in seconds on the Mac and also on a Windows 11 laptop.

A Sony problem, along with the AirPlay and screen mirroring I think?

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Answer 6

Oct 22, 2025 12:59 PM in response to Phil0124

Good evening

I have tried the HDD on aSamsung smart TV. It cannot read QuickTime mov files. I have converted the mov to mp4. These mp4s can be read by the Samsung TV with a load time of seconds for 60+Gb.

All the files can be read in seconds by my Mac and also by our Windows 11 laptop. Clearly the issue is with the Sony TV. I would guess that the problems with AirPlay and screen mirroring I mentioned in my original post are also something to with the Sony TV's Media Player.

Can I thank you very much for your advice and time assisting me.

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