My Retro TVs

by the-mitron 8/18/2025, 4:40 PMwith 22 comments

by deividon 8/18/2025, 6:50 PM

Some years ago I got hit by the retro TV bug and made one for my dad's 50th birthday [0].

It's fairly simple to put a Pi inside a tv and hook it up, but it does feel almost like the real thing

[0]: https://blog.davidv.dev/posts/revamping-an-old-tv-as-a-gift/

by throw0101aon 8/18/2025, 6:14 PM

If anyone is interested in seeing the real thing, there's an 'old TVs' museum in Toronto, Canada with a bunch:

* https://mztv.com

* Virtual: https://mztv.com/tour/

by kbranniganon 8/18/2025, 6:55 PM

I just realized that we went from Knob turning -> Channel Flipping -> Infinite Scroll.

It just that with a limited set of channels, we just watch whatever was most interesting.

With Infinite scrolling you're always hoping for something better that might come.

by disillusionedon 8/18/2025, 6:44 PM

Oooh, this is like a rebirth of YouTube Time Machine, which went defunct awhile back. Ads end up being my favorite... they're such a weird bit of the zeitgeist: prices, style, attention seeking techniques... so interesting.

by readditon 8/18/2025, 6:15 PM

I'm prone to nostalgia and love projects like this. It's a very unique feeling that's hard to describe. I wonder why we feel these things for the past we've experienced.

by 1970-01-01on 8/18/2025, 9:00 PM

They forgot the twang of a degauss coil when powering on those 90s and 00s flatscreens.

by pdxandion 8/18/2025, 7:51 PM

I just realized I was listening to news of the 911 attacks in the background for at least 20 minutes. Then heard the sound of static as it changed to a different stream. Super cool, I love this.

by JCM9on 8/18/2025, 5:43 PM

This is great. Commercials brought back memories.

by _spduchampon 8/18/2025, 9:46 PM

You might also like EXPTV https://exptv.org/

by agcaton 8/18/2025, 9:41 PM

Such a cool project! took me back to early 2000 days of watching tv

by lacooljon 8/18/2025, 7:18 PM

more addicting than cookie clicker. good god

someone give me the strength to CTRL+F4

by chrisco255on 8/18/2025, 6:08 PM

Tough to use on mobile.

by ishan_kunamon 8/18/2025, 6:18 PM

very cool but a bit awkward to use on mobile

by pcdoodleon 8/18/2025, 8:09 PM

There goes my afternoon

by mainecoderon 8/18/2025, 6:03 PM

I love this