Jordan O'BrienMany installers will remember the days that they were installing CRT TVs into the homes of many of their customers. Those days have likely long gone for many in the industry, but for any customer insisting on having a CRT TV – there may be a way to upgrade it with some modern technology.
Dr. Moddnstine, the YouTuber who gave the floppy disk a new lease of life thanks to its upgraded 118GB storage capacity, has found a way to turn a 1978 cathode ray tube TV into a monitor for streaming content from the Internet.
While the ‘portable’ TV is far from ‘Smart’, the Dr. integrated a Chromecast streaming stick into the TV’s original chassis, along with a few additional components, such as the required HDMI port. Unfortunately, the TV is not quite capable of streaming 4K content at full resolution, instead forcing users to enjoy their YouTube and Netflix videos in a quality those familiar with CRT TVs have come to feel a certain nostalgia for.
Turning a 1978 TV into a Chromecast streaming device sounds like a fun challenge but be warned, there’s a high risk of electrocution if attempting to do this project yourself. To stay on the safe side, it’s probably a better bet to acquire a Vizio P series television set instead – that way users get the best of both worlds, Google’s Chromecast technology and glorious Dolby Vision HDR.
If the imminent threat of death isn’t enough to put you off, then the Dr. explains that getting everything to work is actually quite simple. Modding the CRT TV requires just a series of adapters to be wired together in the TV.
Firstly, the 300-ohm twin lead (the one that installers will recognise as being the traditional input for the old rabbit ear antennae) will need to be converted into 75-ohm VHF. To do that run the signal into an RF modulator which outputs composite video. Finally, a composite to HDMI is all that’s needed to give you the connection needed to plug-in a standard Chromecast. And best of all – no soldering is necessary.
Once that’s all done then users just need to set up the Chromecast as usual, by connecting it to their Wi-Fi router. Once that’s done all that’s needed is an Android or iOS smartphone and a compatible App. Then just sit back and relax and enjoy the latest series of House of Cards in glorious 480p colour.