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I have a similar Sony Trinitron TV - i'm not sure about the size, it should be at least 32" but might be bigger (it is a widescreen too). It is so heavy that yo

I have a similar Sony Trinitron TV - i'm not sure about the size, it should be at least 32" but might be bigger (it is a widescreen too). It is so heavy that you need at least two people (preferably three) to move it around and for the first three years i had it when i got it, i had it placed on the floor because... i couldn't lift it to place it anywhere else :-P. The TV has barely seen any use, i got it because at the time i was thinking to buy one of the upcoming gaming consoles but i never got one and i do not watch TV. I couldn't connect it to my PC and, being on the floor, it wouldn't be very comfortable anyway. So it just stayed there until i moved and sent it to my sister who promptly sent it back once she moved :-P. That was the only time it saw any use. It is now in my bedroom, sitting there for 7+ years and - considering the weight - as far as i am concerned it is part of the house now. Sometimes i am thinking to buy an HDMI to whatever input it uses (it has a bunch but not HDMI) adapter to connect a Raspberry Pi for watching a movie or something, but it is aligned at the side of my bed and it'd be much easier to rearrange the bed (and the rest of the room) than moving the TV. It is like this TV was doomed to never be used since the first day i bought it.

pjc50 9y ago
Pi will drive it from the composite output, although you may need to borrow a HDMI screen to set it up.
- KozmoNau7 9y ago
  At least for RetroPie, there's a config file you can edit directly on the SD-card, to force a video output and resolution and set overscan. I'm using it force mine into 480p mode, to feed a HDMI->S-Video converter, which gives better video quality than using the composite output.
  - mark-r 9y ago
    Yes, S-video is better than composite. But RGB component is the best, if your TV has inputs for it.
    - KozmoNau7 9y ago
      My TV has 2x SCART RGB, unfortunately I haven't found any good options for converting HDMI to SCART RGB. Everything is HDMI->component.
      - ValentineC 9y ago
        Something like this [1] seems like it might work (just go with whichever's cheapest). [1] https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1080p-HDMI-to-Scart-converter-kabel-with-power-supply-for-PS4-DVD-ect-to-old-TV/32823445938.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1080p-HDMI-to-Scart-converte...
        KozmoNau7 9y ago
        All of those cheap converters only output composite video over SCART, no better than the Pi's composite output. Finding one that actually does RGB is either impossible, or really expensive.
      - mark-r 9y ago
        I had never heard of SCART before, but it seems to be just a connector. There appear to be cables that would connect SCART to RCA component video.
        KozmoNau7 9y ago
        SCART RGB and component are not compatible, I've tried that.
  - happycube 9y ago
    BTW if you have a device that takes component (i.e. PVM's) you can use an HDMI->Component adapter and drive 240P/480I/480P directly from the Pi with no rescaling :) The HDMI output on the Pi is really flexible... you can even coax 2160P24 out of it... at least for static 2D displays.
  - khedoros1 9y ago
    Setting resolution through config.txt is a feature of the firmware, not of any specific OS (although I think there's something weird about how NOOBS and Berryboot map their /boot partitions around, or something...and that's part of why I avoid them). Anyhow, setting resolution in config.txt ought to work everywhere.
- badsectoracula 9y ago
  I didn't knew that was composite, i thought it was something about audio or one of the generic I/O stuff. TBH i barely used the Pi, after getting it i played with it a bit but between the keyboard malfunctioning (keys getting stuck due to power, etc), wifi being disconnected (again a power issue) and the awful performance i didn't find much use for it. I also got a Pi2 but that seems to need a special cable for the composite output. But i guess Pi1 should be able to play video even if i have to transcode it in some other format and size.
  - khedoros1 9y ago
    The 3.5mm jack is a "TRRS" connector (3 conductors and a ground). So, left+right audio and video. You've got to make sure that the cable has the ground in the right place, because I guess that different devices position it differently, so not all TRRS-to-RCA cables are compatible.

pjc50 9y ago

Pi will drive it from the composite output, although you may need to borrow a HDMI screen to set it up.

KozmoNau7 9y ago
At least for RetroPie, there's a config file you can edit directly on the SD-card, to force a video output and resolution and set overscan. I'm using it force mine into 480p mode, to feed a HDMI->S-Video converter, which gives better video quality than using the composite output.
- mark-r 9y ago
  Yes, S-video is better than composite. But RGB component is the best, if your TV has inputs for it.
  - KozmoNau7 9y ago
    My TV has 2x SCART RGB, unfortunately I haven't found any good options for converting HDMI to SCART RGB. Everything is HDMI->component.
    - ValentineC 9y ago
      Something like this [1] seems like it might work (just go with whichever's cheapest). [1] https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1080p-HDMI-to-Scart-converter-kabel-with-power-supply-for-PS4-DVD-ect-to-old-TV/32823445938.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1080p-HDMI-to-Scart-converte...
      - KozmoNau7 9y ago
        All of those cheap converters only output composite video over SCART, no better than the Pi's composite output. Finding one that actually does RGB is either impossible, or really expensive.
    - mark-r 9y ago
      I had never heard of SCART before, but it seems to be just a connector. There appear to be cables that would connect SCART to RCA component video.
      - KozmoNau7 9y ago
        SCART RGB and component are not compatible, I've tried that.
- happycube 9y ago
  BTW if you have a device that takes component (i.e. PVM's) you can use an HDMI->Component adapter and drive 240P/480I/480P directly from the Pi with no rescaling :) The HDMI output on the Pi is really flexible... you can even coax 2160P24 out of it... at least for static 2D displays.
- khedoros1 9y ago
  Setting resolution through config.txt is a feature of the firmware, not of any specific OS (although I think there's something weird about how NOOBS and Berryboot map their /boot partitions around, or something...and that's part of why I avoid them). Anyhow, setting resolution in config.txt ought to work everywhere.
badsectoracula 9y ago
I didn't knew that was composite, i thought it was something about audio or one of the generic I/O stuff. TBH i barely used the Pi, after getting it i played with it a bit but between the keyboard malfunctioning (keys getting stuck due to power, etc), wifi being disconnected (again a power issue) and the awful performance i didn't find much use for it. I also got a Pi2 but that seems to need a special cable for the composite output. But i guess Pi1 should be able to play video even if i have to transcode it in some other format and size.
- khedoros1 9y ago
  The 3.5mm jack is a "TRRS" connector (3 conductors and a ground). So, left+right audio and video. You've got to make sure that the cable has the ground in the right place, because I guess that different devices position it differently, so not all TRRS-to-RCA cables are compatible.