cheap way to ad Chromecast to your 40's and 50's Televisions

[maxhifi]

Originally Posted by earlyfilm

OK, what would the benefit be of doing it this way have over cannibalizing an old VCR or such for a modulator, or even using a surplus agile modulator, which would seem to be less expensive and much less complicated.

Can someone explain this in analogue English?

I've seen Chromecast advertised, but the adverts never say what it does. As far as I know, no stores where I live carry them.

James.

1. Brand new hardware doesn't have any analog output to hook up to your VCR, because apparently having an analog output makes copy protection difficult. I also think that we're at the point where the average consumer has HDMI, so support is dropped for "legacy" hardware.

2. An old VCR will work as a modulator, but it's bulky, and it is OLD... I spend enough time fixing the TV, and don't really want to have the top of it cluttered with a VCR and a bunch of ancient computer hardware. This system is elegant and can easily be concealed behind a console TV.

3. Effectively adding an HDMI input to a TV brings it into the 21st century, making any number of video sources a viable option.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by maxhifi

1. Brand new hardware doesn't have any analog output to hook up to your VCR, because apparently having an analog output makes copy protection difficult. I also think that we're at the point where the average consumer has HDMI, so support is dropped for "legacy" hardware.

2. An old VCR will work as a modulator, but it's bulky, and it is OLD... I spend enough time fixing the TV, and don't really want to have the top of it cluttered with a VCR and a bunch of ancient computer hardware. This system is elegant and can easily be concealed behind a console TV.

3. Effectively adding an HDMI input to a TV brings it into the 21st century, making any number of video sources a viable option.

The modulators are all over the place. Thrift shops, garage sales, for a buck or two. Some even have S video in.