Getting Youtube etc on an old 1983 CRT TV

[Eidolon]

Well, today I turned on my Wii to watch something on Youtube, and it popped up saying that the Wii app is being shut down next month.
Already lost iPlayer some time ago.

I suppose it was inevitable that this was coming, but it's really annoying all the same.

Does anyone know of any other way to be able to get the internet or the Youtube app specifically onto an old TV? Perhaps some way to connect up a laptop, and correct the display to a compatible PAL signal and 4:3 ratio?
It's really going to annoy me when I lose Youtube access on this TV, so help is appreicated if anyone has any ideas

[Refugee]

You will need to build a Raspberry pi.
They can get on the web and do have a TV out.

[Eidolon]

Ah, I hear of them a lot. I think one of them might be part of the upcoming Sinclair Spectrum Next.

Am I right in thinking a Raspberry Pi is bascially a small circuit board?

[Refugee]

There is this thread running on using a Raspberry pi as a main computer.

http://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/s...d.php?t=136509

The cases are sold separately in all sorts of styles. I looked at all the data once with a view to making a stand alone juke box.

[peter_scott]

Try searching for "PC Laptop VGA to AV RCA TV Monitor S-video Adapter Converter Switch Box"
eBay and other sales channels.

Peter

[Eidolon]

Wouldn't just doing it this way result in aspect ratio issues?
A
Most of the YouTube stuff I watch is old and in 4:3, if I just ran it directly from a laptop this way it would be distorted and in a box in the middle of the screen. I need to find some way to sort this, as well as frame rate etc.
My laptop only seem to have hdmi out. But I am up for changing to another piece of kit if viable.

This is all a new issue to me to figure out, so I'll have to blunder a bit until I understand it a bit more.

Apparently there's also a Wii homebrew app called WiiMC+ that can do YouTube, but I can't find much info on it yet.

[AidanLunn]

I just use one of these with a 500GB HDD. Download the YouTube videos as MP4 files, move to the HDD, plug into the PVR then play on the TV.

The benefit is you also get to keep a file should it be deleted from YouTube anyway.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Home-Cine...ing/B00BPAZGCG

[Eidolon]

I have downloaded a few, but overall it's more than I'm looking for. I didn't see anything on that about a USB in for the hdd?
I am currently recording some episodes of top of the pops. Th best ones I record on my DVD recorder, then transfer to a hdd or USB stick for watching on the old telly. Mpeg2 DVD format. For the lesser ones that I'd still like to have, I download them, but they're in mpeg4, which my DVD player can't understand, and pillarboxed too. I can only watch them on the flatscreen set in the other room. The Wii can play the morg4 files, but the processing for changing the aspect ratio seems to be a bit too much for it and it keeps stuttering.

It works really nicely with YouTube on the Wii, I can use my phone app to make a playlist, and just sit back and have a nice evening of classic tv. Really disappointed at YouTube for shutting it down

[AidanLunn]

Originally Posted by Eidolon

I have downloaded a few, but overall it's more than I'm looking for. I didn't see anything on that about a USB in for the hdd?

There's a USB socket on the front of it, you can see it in the image on the article.

[peter_scott]

Originally Posted by Eidolon

Wouldn't just doing it this way result in aspect ratio issues?
A
Most of the YouTube stuff I watch is old and in 4:3, if I just ran it directly from a laptop this way it would be distorted and in a box in the middle of the screen. I need to find some way to sort this, as well as frame rate etc.
My laptop only seem to have hdmi out. But I am up for changing to another piece of kit if viable.

This is all a new issue to me to figure out, so I'll have to blunder a bit until I understand it a bit more.

Apparently there's also a Wii homebrew app called WiiMC+ that can do YouTube, but I can't find much info on it yet.

This little box is really cheap and gives VGA in and out ports and S video and photo video. It has controls for H and V position and H and V size.

Peter

[Voxophone]

As Peter has mentioned above, a VGA converter is probably the thing you need. I had the same problem as you recently and one of those did the trick.

I made a thread on it here: http://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/s...908#post943908

Liam

[chriswood1900]

To achieve a similar outcome I just came across this Pi project, which whilst it may cause the traditionalist to choke on their coffee, it might inspire some people and could be useful in somewhere like a museum where you would not want to hammer a CRT set all day long.
https://www.hackster.io/wellington-d...machine-d11b5f

Chris

[Eidolon]

It looks like there have been a few other solutions, but all with some expense, which places them out fo reach, and of course the overhanging worry of Youtube being shut down on them too. As follows:

*WiiU - Supports SD and 4:3. and PAL can be sollected (I think).
*XBOX 360 - Not too clear on the tehcnical side of this, but I've been reliably informed Youtube shoud work via this on a retro tv. other than the cost (Its still cheaper than a WiiU), the thing is just too big for the room.
*Old Roku boxes that use SD and Phono connections. Very expensive, probably becuase they're not made anymore, and in demand from other SD set users, but they're NTSC only, so some NTSC to PAL converter would be required, which I really don't want.

The WiiU is the best option for me, but it's way out my prince range. I already have one that I use in the 'HDTV' room, and it's a great console, but i really cant go through all the expense of buying another one. A number of apps, including iPlayer have already been shut down on it since the Switch was announced, so for all I know Youtube could go soon as well :/

[hamid_1]

Buying a new game console just to watch Youtube is a very expensive solution - I wouldn't do that, unless you want to play the games as well.

The Raspberry Pi is fairly inexpensive (around £30), but you'll also have to add the cost of an AV cable, microSDHC memory card and PC keyboard / mouse if you don't already have a spare one. You might be able to re-use a memory card from an old mobile phone, or a an old desktop PC keyboard or mouse. If not, these items cost less than £10. Still a lot cheaper than a new game console - and you can play old-style retro games on the Raspberry Pi if you want to.

Some blu-ray disc players can play Youtube videos if you connect the blu-ray player to the internet (usually an ethernet cable is needed, but a few blu-ray players have wi-fi). Secondhand blu-ray players are often available from £15 in secondhand shops like Cash Converters, CEX and Cash Generator. Their stock changes frequently. Before buying, try to find out if the player on sale supports Youtube, or ask the shop if you can return it if it doesn't. New blu-ray players can be bought for £50 in supermarkets, but for that price, I'd go for the Raspberry Pi instead - it's much more versatile. Another point is that new blu-ray players are unlikely to have anything other than HDMI output. You'll need to buy an HDMI to video and audio converter (an extra £10 or so.)

Another option. Some smartphones and tablets have a TV Out connection. Sometimes this is composite video and audio (you just need to buy a cable) but more commonly they have a miniature HDMI port. You'll need an HDMI to AV converter (around £10) plus the HDMI lead for your smartphone or tablet. Then just play the Youtube video straight from your phone to the TV via the HDMI converter if needed. Again, if you have a laptop or desktop PC with HDMI or VGA out, you can get a converter to turn this into composite video which you can feed in to your vintage TV. One possible problem is that you may not be able to adjust the aspect ratio to suit your old TV, so the picture may look squashed at the sides. You'll just have to try it and see how Youtube videos look when played this way.

That's a couple more ideas to think about ...

[Eidolon]

The BD player suggestion is a good one, as long as I can find a reasonably priced Smart player that can support 4:3 output in PAL, and a good convertor. It might fit under the chair by the TV, on top of the v2000 machine. I think my Samsung machine in the back room has a 4:3 option. I will look into this, but need to check somehow that the version of Youtube on a new player won't be stopped anytime soon if i go this route, I'm not very trusting of internet funcitonality really.

The smartphone option doesn't work becuase of aspect ratio issues.

I have a Samsung BD player with a lot of apps in my other room, but it's cabled connection only, and as i have no cabled connections anymore thanks to a botched internet installation I can't use any of them.

[andrewn]

Originally Posted by hamid_1

Another option. Some smartphones and tablets have a TV Out connection. Sometimes this is composite video and audio (you just need to buy a cable) but more commonly they have a miniature HDMI port. You'll need an HDMI to AV converter (around £10) plus the HDMI lead for your smartphone or tablet. Then just play the Youtube video straight from your phone to the TV via the HDMI converter if needed. Again, if you have a laptop or desktop PC with HDMI or VGA out, you can get a converter to turn this into composite video which you can feed in to your vintage TV. One possible problem is that you may not be able to adjust the aspect ratio to suit your old TV, so the picture may look squashed at the sides. You'll just have to try it and see how Youtube videos look when played this way.

I do exactly that with a tablet providing the HDMI source connected to the converter. The picture quality on my 1987 Sony TV is very impressive, youtube videos look as good as live TV.

[kegnkiwi]

Did the tv's back then have scart or where the inputs phono cables. Heres is a hdmi to scart convertor

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HDMI-SCART-.../dp/B00NAT0W2Y

I suppose you could then use scart to phono cables. This option should then open up lots of options like laptop to tv or raspberry pi or even amazon fire stick.

I also use to use linux set top box's and they downscale hd signals from tv channels and allow them to be viewed on old 14" portables.

One other option is that you can hack the wii and install the homebrew channel. Google will tell you how to do this, there could well me an option to extend the use of youtube. People have been doing this for years and continue to use apps such as mario cart etc.

[Eidolon]

Did the tv's back then have scart or where the inputs phono cables. Heres is a hdmi to scart convertor

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HDMI-SCART-.../dp/B00NAT0W2Y

One other option is that you can hack the wii and install the homebrew channel. Google will tell you how to do this, there could well me an option to extend the use of youtube. People have been doing this for years and continue to use apps such as mario cart etc.

I have Homebrew installed already, and use WiiMC to play digital formats that my DVD player won't support. The Homebrew channel browser is no longer supported, nothing is downloadable from it any more. There is a patch for WiiMC to get YouTube working in it, from another source, but it is a very basic interface with just a list of titles. YouTube is abandoning all support for their old Flash Based player apps, and I have the feeling that the WiiMc update would work this way. I might try it if all else fails, but i'd still miss the whole playlist function. As it stands at the moment, i tend to find a lot of old tv programmes on there and make a playlist for the evening

I'm not sure about the idea of using a computer because of the aspect ratio issues really. i know there are adaptors/scalers, but its not ideal and takes up a lot of room too.

Going back to the BD player idea, I had a look at the Samsung i have in the back room. It had an option to set to standard definition and 4:3, but it fell short with an option for 480/576, not one to set it to 576 only. So NTSC stuff would still output as NTSC only. I tried a BD on it, and it would only convert it to 480, not 576. I don;t know how it would do internet content, probably the same. It also didn't respond to the different 4:3 settings, despite being chosen. I don't know if that was because it could detect it was hooked up to a HD set.
I might get a HDMI to Scart adaptor and test it on the old TV just to see what happens, as I'd need one anyway by the looks of it.

So what I basically need is a SmartBD player, with 576/PAL25fps selection option, 4:3 support, and ideally region free for the DVDs. I'm sure there's some out there that fit this bill, but it's a matter of finding them.

[Eidolon]

Solved.

After checking the various options, I found a PS3 super-slim was the best option. I got one for £40 nearby, with two controllers and a 500gb internal HDD. I'm hoping I can swap the HDD with the 80gb one in my ps3 in the 'modern room', and transfer all my content across somehow.

But the ps3 super-slim is small enough to hide away, and supporting of 576i output. I can run youtube and iplayer on it for the forseeable future, and it'll run a lot of my digital downloads, including stuff downloaded from iplayer, with a handy zoom option to remove the pillarbox black bars from the sides of 4:3 iplayer content.

Overall it seems to work out nicely. At least for the time being

[shaunhw]

A point about YouTube videos and very old televisions -

I've been using a Panasonic blu ray disk recorder with Freeview HD to play some of these, from an SD card - About last Panasonic high spec model made with composite video output. Unfortunately this thing plays these back at their original frame rate even via composite output - and 60hz drives my old Bush CTV 167 crazy. Though colour is there there's server pulsating and wobbling on the picture, along with severe misconvergence due to the incorrect frame rate. A good solution is to try using the excellent (and completely free) "Handbrake" software for windows to convert the file from 60 field/sec to 50, when all is well again! I've a few youtube testcard etc. videos done like this, pulled via "KeepVid.com"

I've also just got one of the HDMI to composite converters, which was about 12 pounds from Amazon, but these can't deal with the aspect ratio, but a computer suitable screen mode like 1024x768 will probably fix this. I'll try this when time permits and post the results if no one else does.

I wish someone would make one with a horizontal stretch and clip edges feature, so I can watch Star Trek via Netflix on my old colour telly, without black bars and a squased picture!

Best - Shaun.