Raspberry Pi Zero W Turns Old CRT TV into Smart TV
When it comes to revitalizing old hardware, no SBC is quite as versatile as the Raspberry Pi. You can cram a Pi into anything from an old typewriter to a Commodore 64 with some exciting results depending on how far you want to take it. Today, we’re sharing another cool project that revitalizes old hardware with new tech created by Saugat Gamuwa with Maker Sci over at YouTube. In his latest video, Gamuwa shows us how he managed to transform an old CRT TV into a smart TV.
It doesn’t take any special PCB or niche hardware to pull off this project. All you need is a Raspberry Pi capable of streaming video so anything from a Pi 4 to a Pi Zero will suffice and the right adapter to output said video to the CRT. In this case, he’s got an AV to HDMI adapter on hand which is more than capable of giving us the compatibility we need.
There are several different ways you can take advantage of a project like this and it mostly boils down to the software you decide to implement on the Pi. For example, while Gamuwa is using a Pi to make a smart TV, you could easily turn this into a gaming project by setting up an emulator for retro consoles using something like RetroPie or Lakka.
Gamuwa provided a full list of hardware used in this project. Most of it is necessary but some of it is specific to his project because of the model of Pi chosen. Gamuwa is using a Raspberry Pi Zero W which has a mini HDMI port. Because of this, he is using a mini HDMI to HDMI converter to connect the Pi Zero W to an AV to an HDMI adapter. This adapter connects the Pi to the CRT.
For the operating system, Gamuwa is using a tool called OSMC. This is an open-source tool that stands for Open Source Media Center. It provides the smart TV functions we need that let you play videos not just locally on the Pi but from streaming apps and more. OSMC has an app store so you can customize your setup any way you like.
If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, check out the full video shared on YouTube. It’s a relatively simple idea but the results are too cool to ignore if you're a fan of retro hardware.
