Digital media with old TV

CathJ

CathJ

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Now don't laugh, but I have an old TV. It uses RCA cables, and hasn't ever even heard HDMI :D

Is there anything (like roku, or mede8er) that I can use to play digital media (from netflix, friends, whatever) on my ancient TV, or does everything rely on...err... newer techology? I hardly ever watch tv, so I don't want to buy a new one :)

I do have a portable DVD player which hooks up the tv using rca cables, and that can read from a flash drive, I'd just like something a bit more integrated. And maybe handling streaming services like Vidi.
 
Last edited:
@CathJ: I recently obtained an MXIII android media player from AVSupply and currently have it connected to an old CRT TV via RCA cables and the picture quality is excellent. I use it to watch Netflix, Free Hulu, Hulu Plus, YouTube, stream directly from www.usdrama.net and www.shush.se, XBMC (1channel, ProjecFreeTV, Navi-X, Icefilms, IPTV (300 live TV channels such as BBC1, BBC2, ITV etc). AVSupply is in Cape Town and offer really good support and a decent warranty. Personally I would go with the MXIII and a wireless air mouse but the MXQ is a cheaper option which is slightly slower than the MXIII.
http://www.avsupply.co.za/product_i...-1gb-media-player-with-android-and-xbmc-p-437

Here are a few videos of the machine as well as one that is very similar with a slightly different configuration but otherwise identical.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b0v7urwCP4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg1WScgdRLQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtGrudXE03I

Post again if you want any more information.
 
Raspberry PI

You can use a Raspberry PI running XBMC. I have several working including 1 on an old CRT TV. Works perfectly.
 
Yotch said:
@CathJ: I recently obtained an MXIII android media player from AVSupply and currently have it connected to an old CRT TV via RCA cables and the picture quality is excellent. I use it to watch Netflix, Free Hulu, Hulu Plus, YouTube, stream directly from www.usdrama.net and www.shush.se, XBMC (1channel, ProjecFreeTV, Navi-X, Icefilms, IPTV (300 live TV channels such as BBC1, BBC2, ITV etc). AVSupply is in Cape Town and offer really good support and a decent warranty. Personally I would go with the MXIII and a wireless air mouse but the MXQ is a cheaper option which is slightly slower than the MXIII.
http://www.avsupply.co.za/product_i...-1gb-media-player-with-android-and-xbmc-p-437

Here are a few videos of the machine as well as one that is very similar with a slightly different configuration but otherwise identical.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b0v7urwCP4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg1WScgdRLQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtGrudXE03I

Post again if you want any more information.
Click to expand...

These are a good bet, especially since you won't need full hd on apps like Netflix. I've got an Android box from avsupply too, not this model but similar, and it's pretty versatile. Mines running over HDMI though.
 
Yotch said:
@CathJ: I recently obtained an MXIII android media player from AVSupply and currently have it connected to an old CRT TV via RCA cables and the picture quality is excellent. I use it to watch Netflix, Free Hulu, Hulu Plus, YouTube, stream directly from www.usdrama.net and www.shush.se, XBMC (1channel, ProjecFreeTV, Navi-X, Icefilms, IPTV (300 live TV channels such as BBC1, BBC2, ITV etc). AVSupply is in Cape Town and offer really good support and a decent warranty. Personally I would go with the MXIII and a wireless air mouse but the MXQ is a cheaper option which is slightly slower than the MXIII.
http://www.avsupply.co.za/product_i...-1gb-media-player-with-android-and-xbmc-p-437

Here are a few videos of the machine as well as one that is very similar with a slightly different configuration but otherwise identical.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b0v7urwCP4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg1WScgdRLQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtGrudXE03I

Post again if you want any more information.
Click to expand...

That sounds like what I need - I'll check out the links, thanks!
 
Picked up an older Samsung TV (a huge hefty beast) from a repair-shop last week.
The guy was just clearing out some stuff and he was just letting these older TV's go for nothing.
I haven't looked up the model no. yet but I'm assuming it's a late 90's CRT.

Now this TV is composite only (not even s-video) but the picture is pretty good.
I set up as well the old LaserDisc player, and a CED videodisc player as well.
Pleasantly surprised by the results.
I was actually just now watching the LD version of Jerry Maguire. "SHOW ME THE MONEY!" :D

To get to the point of the thread though,
As per the OP's question, yeah these older TV's can still handle certain media players via RCA. The one I've got hooked up is the Western Digital TV Live media player. No problems whatsoever.
 
Yep MXIII has both RCA cables + an HDMI cable.

Awesome little device!
 
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