TinyCircuits, creators of Thumby, the thumb-sized Nintendo Game Boy, are now making another tiny device. revision To the popular TinyTV.
TinyTV 2 and TinyTV mini Powered by Raspberry Pi Pico’s RP2040, this small display can play videos stored in internal memory or stream videos via a USB connection.
The TinyTV 2 and Tiny TV Mini recreate the aesthetics of mid-20th century TVs, but under the hood, they’re powered by Raspberry Pi’s powerful RP2040 microcontroller. Both units offer around 8GB of internal storage, with TinyCircuit claiming the TinyTV 2 offers around 10 hours of playback and the TinyTV Mini he’s a whopping 40 hours of video.
| row 0 – cell 0 | tiny tv 2 | tiny tv mini |
| processor | Raspberry Pi RP2040 processor | Raspberry Pi RP2040 processor |
| screen | IPS TFT 65K color, 26mm (1.0 inch), 216×135 pixels | 65K color OLED, 15.2mm (0.6 inch), 64×64 pixels |
| battery | Li-Polymer 3.7V, 150mAh, about 2 hours of video playback | Li-Polymer 3.7V, 50mAh, about 1 hour video playback |
| depository | Built-in 8GB, about 10 hours video playback | Built-in 8GB, about 40 hours of video playback |
| audio | 16x9mm (0.6″ x 0.4″) front-facing speakers | built-in speaker |
| input | Power button, two rotary knobs for channel and volume control | Power button, volume button, channel button on the top of the main unit |
| remote | Controllable by infrared (IR) remote control | Controllable by infrared (IR) remote control |
| connectivity | USB-C for upload and battery charging | USB-C for upload and battery charging |
| size | 47.6 x 36.6 x 25.9 mm (1.9 x 1.4 x 1.0 inch) | 26.3 x 23.8 x 21.9 mm (1.0 x 0.94 x 0.86 inch) |
Each TV is pre-assembled inside an injection-molded plastic case. Your TV comes preloaded with a selection of videos that you can watch instantly. Simply turn the dial to select the next ‘channel’. Actually skip to the next video. Another rotary dial provides volume control for the built-in speaker.
If you want to load your own videos onto the unit, rather than spending countless hours tweaking Handbrake, TinyCircuits offers video conversion tools. The conversion tool will optimize your video for playback on TinyTV.
Another software tool from TinyCircuits mirrors your current desktop session onto a small TV screen. Our eyesight may not be strong enough to use it, but we’d like to set it up as a second display.
After a successful crowdfunding campaign ($282,655, well above the original goal of $15,000), TinyCircuits is almost ready to start shipping units to backers. The unit should be in the hands of enthusiastic backers from April 2023. Once the backers are fulfilled, the units will join many of the products sold on . TinyCircuits site.
Can’t wait till then? Perhaps this Raspberry Pi-powered 3D-printed TV that only plays classic The Simpsons episodes blows your mind?
