If your Sony player plays CDs, then I should think that would work. Mine only plays DVDs, so the CD I made won't play in it. I didn't try burning it to a DVD to give that a try. If your TV shows pictures directly from an SD card, I would think that would work also. Maybe someone who has actually done this can answer your questions better.

I have not had any luck with the Video CD's using Movie Maker. It could be my computer and/or my DVD player. They play on my computer, but not on my DVD player/TV.

I have fantastic luck with the DVD's.

I don't know about the SD card - you wouldn't be out anything trying it.

I use a third party software (Roxio) to burn the file to DVD.

You can pause the slideshow, just like any other DVD, with your remote.

Did you know you can change the length of the clip? They don't have to be 5 seconds.

Before you create your slideshow - Select TOOLS->OPTIONS-> then set the picture duration. You can also select the transition duration.

If you already have your slide show created - you can drag each individual clip (on the Timeline view, not storyboard) to whatever length you want. If you want one clip 10 seconds, and another 5 - it is as easy as dragging them to the length you want. You can expand the view of the timeline by clicking the magnifying glass with the + in it. That makes it easier to edit indiviual clips.

When I am finished creating the show - under Step 3 - I select "Save to my computer"
-> I name the show
->I select Other Settings...High Quality NTSC.

It saves that file in My Videos. That is the file I burn to DVD, using Roxio DVD Creator. It will give you a high quality picture to view on your TV. I have a widescreen HDTV and they look great on it!

This step may take a while depending on the length of your show and the speed of your computer. It is a different step than just saving your work (File->Save Project) I do recommend saving your project often while working on it , by selecting File->Save Project. This file is NOT a created playable slideshow - you need to finish out step 3 for that.

WMM does tend to lock up if you are low on RAM or have lots of other apps running. At least that is the case with the XP version. Nothing worse than loosing the whole thing when you are almost finished!

WMM Forums are also a great place to learn some new tricks :) I have learned so much just reading the posts there.

Here is a link that might be useful: Windows Movie Maker Forums