Old TVs are cheap to replace, even if you’re buying something larger or smarter. But disposing of a spare display is wasteful. It could be given a second life in a kitchen or bedroom – and, while you can’t make your old TV any bigger, you can make it a lot smarter, quite easily and cheaply.
As you’ll have gathered from the title, the secret ingredient is the Raspberry Pi. One option is to attach the Pi directly to your TV, something that’s gloriously easy to do thanks to the Pi’s integrated HDMI. But for an even better experience you can set up your Raspberry Pi as a network server, and use it in combination with a streaming device such as the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, Chromecast or the Roku Express HD Streaming Media Player, to browse and play your own media library.
Going this way doesn’t add much to the cost – the various streaming stick models all start at around £35. They can plug directly into a spare HDMI port on the back of the TV, so they’re very neat (the only other cable required is a USB connection for power), and they come with convenient bundled remote controls, allowing easy access to the stick’s native apps, plus your own media and other content served up by the Pi.
SPEC UP YOUR RASPBERRY PI
If you have any sort of Raspberry Pi sitting idle, you can probably use it for this project. We’re going to use the DietPi OS, which is light enough to work well on older boards such as the Raspberry Pi 3, and you don’t need any additional hardware on the Pi side, beyond the usual power supply and microSD card.
Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av PC Pro.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av PC Pro.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Lenovo ThinkPad E16 Gen 1 (AMD)
By no means the last word in excitement, but the ThinkPad E16 is a good-value choice for business users
Huawei MateBook D16
The best and biggest screen here, plus a powerful Core i9 processor, ensure the MateBook D16 stands out
Acer Aspire Go 14
It's tough to argue with this laptop's value for money or battery life, but speed lovers should look elsewhere
HP Spectre x360 16 (2024)
This sleek 2kg convertible packs everything you need, including a Core Ultra chip and optional Nvidia graphics
Five ways to get cloud computing wrong
Don't let your migration projects go up in smoke. Steve Cassidy runs through the blunders to avoid
Control your computer with your face and head -it's the future!
As if to show nothing is new in the world of technology, eye tracking and gesture control date back decades. But if Apple's on board, maybe their time has finally come, suggests Nicole Kobie
Chip off the old block
Standalone sales of the Z80 CPU have finally been discontinued after 48 years. David Crookes looks back on a chip with a staggering impact
Cloud backup 2024
Whether it's through attack or error, your business data is always at risk. Dave Mitchell explains how cloud services can add extra protection and puts four contenders to the test
Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra
A brilliant advert for resinbased 3D printing, with a host of features that make it easy to obtain great results
HP All-in-One 27 cr-0014na PC
A speedy and temptingly priced all-in-one PC with a fine 27in display-but note its 1080p resolution