VCR. VHS. Digital VCR. This is that same idea, just the modern version.

RetroStream is a Raspberry Pi 4 working as a playback platform for CRTs. Basically a Roku or a Firestick, for a screen that never had one. It isn’t broadcasting a channel and it isn’t simulating anything. It plays whatever video you load onto it.

Right now that’s King of the Hill and the 1987 TMNT cartoon, running across three CRTs at once. You’ll probably spot the TMNT collection in the background too. Figures, toys, dice, new and old, VHS movies, books, keychains, pillows. That’s not staged. That’s just the shelf.

What you get

The wiring, the software side, and a ready-to-flash image. Free. No tier, no paywall, no email required. You bring the videos.

Ready-to-go image and documents: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/15h4U70cf9LU3KU0jbJABxEmktc7SN5z1?usp=sharing

Works on the Raspberry Pi 3B and the Pi 4. If you build one, I’d genuinely like to see it. Feedback and testers welcome.

Where the money actually goes

There are no ads here and no sponsors. Nothing on this site is trying to sell you anything.

Every dollar becomes a part. That is not a figure of speech, so here is the actual math. Five dollars is a print cartridge for the 1987 Kodak I’m reverse-engineering, or a bag of electrolytic caps for a recap job. Fifteen is a ROM programmer socket adapter. Twenty-five is a donor board off eBay to compare against a dead one. Fifty is a whole machine off the shelf and onto the bench.

Parts become projects. Projects become videos and live builds. The videos are free and stay free, and the write-ups stay public so the next person doesn’t have to re-derive any of it. That’s the whole loop, and support is the only thing turning it.

One-time tips and the shop: https://ko-fi.com/thernd2
Monthly support and early build logs: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheRND2

Neither is required for anything on this page. The instructions are yours regardless.

Live builds Tuesdays and Saturdays, 7pm Eastern, at https://twitch.tv/thernd2