So I want to play my Netflix movies on the tv but I don't have my hdmi cord, so I tried plugging my iPad with a USB to the directv box but I don know how to stream it to the tv. Can I even do that? Will this even work?
Hello Oshi121 - from my understanding of your question, you are plugging the USB portion of the iPad's charger into your DirecTV box; well the iPad is not going to put out a video/audio feed via that connection - could the connection even damage the iPad? I'm not sure - I believe that you will need another of the many options for getting iPad video onto a bigger screen - both wired & wireless choices exist.
For myself, I own the Apple HDMI video adapter (of course other third party ones are available) - as you know, the HDMI is a great option being just one cord that will carry both HD video & audio. However, there are many other video adapters (again either from Apple or third party providers), e.g. composite, component, VGA, S-video (did I miss any?) - for the latter you will also need to deal w/ getting the audio into whatever device you are attaching.
My suggestion is if you already own an iPad HDMI docking adapter, find or purchase another HDMI cord - good luck! P.S. welcome to the forum!
The IPad Forum is a community of members from all walks of life and from all over the world coming together to share our experiences and to help each other learn about this wonderful piece of technology the Ipad. There is a wealth of information already here in the many threads we have so doing some searches will answer most of the questions you have. If then you cannot find the answer you are seeking then by all means post your question. There are many friendly and informed members here only too willing to help you.