TinyCircuits’ TinyTV Miniaturizes Your Favorite Videos

For a few years in the aughts, digital picture frames were quite popular. Digital cameras were already commonplace and people wanted an easy way to display their digital photos. For reasons that aren’t quite clear, the digital picture frame market died. But the idea was a good one and now that short videos are all the rage, you may want a way to display yours. TinyCircuits just released two TinyTV devices that are perfect for showing off your favorite video clips.

The TinyTV 2 and TinyTV Mini are available through a Kickstarter campaign right now. The campaign will run for almost another month, but it has already received about $70,000 in funding — far exceeding the $15,000 goal. That’s thanks to more than 750 backers.

Consumers have good reason to be skeptical of Kickstarter campaigns these days, as most are either blatant marketing campaigns for large corporations or a risk. But TinyCircuits has successfully Kickstarted several other projects, including the Thumby. I backed the Thumby myself and received it as expected (it is sitting on my desk as I type this). So we’re confident that TinyCircuits will come through again.

Both the TinyTV 2 and TinyTV Mini are itty-bitty functional TVs. They contain little screens, functional buttons/knobs, rechargeable batteries, 8GB of built-in MicroSD card storage, speakers, and infrared remote control receivers. Each device has a USB-C port so users can easily copy videos from their computer. Users can also mirror their computer’s display over the USB-C connection. Once videos are stored on the device, the channel knob/button lets users switch between videos.

The primary differences between the two models, aside from size, are the screen, the battery, and the controls. The TinyTV 2 has a 1” IPS TFT LCD with a resolution of 216x315 pixels. The TinyTV Mini has a 0.6” OLED with a resolution of 64x64 pixels. Battery sizes are 150mAh (two hours video playback) and 50mAh (1 hour video playback), respectively. The larger TinyTV 2 has knobs for volume and “channel” control, while the TinyTV Mini uses buttons for those functions. Both devices contain a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller.

Various case color options are available and backers can choose whether they want to include a remote or USB-C cable. The cases will be 3D-printed unless the campaign reaches its stretch goals. If it reaches $100,000 in funding (which seems likely), the TinyTV 2 will get an injection-molded case. If it reaches $200,000, the TinyTV Mini will also get an injection-molded case.

If you want a TinyCircuits TinyTV 2 or TinyTV Mini, the Kickstarter campaign runs until November 17th. Rewards start at $49 for both models. Backers should receive their rewards in March 2023.