If you’ve ever had an insatiable urge to “binge watch like it's 1999”, then there’s a good chance that the American startup RetroBox has just the gadget for you. It's the creator of a vintage-style Cathode Ray TV/VHS machine hybrid, which makes it possible to watch old video tapes on a display that promises to do an excellent job of replicating your childhood memories.
The RetroBox intends to appeal to both retro film and gaming fans, and it’s a curious gadget that mixes old and new input standards such as HDMI, AV Component, coaxial ports, RCA jacks and S-Video. So not only can you view old VHS tapes, but you can also hook up an old Nintendo or Sega games console and enjoy a truly classic gaming experience.
Unfortunately, the RetroBox comes with a major caveat, for while it looks and feels very much like a traditional cathode-ray tube TV, it doesn’t actually use traditional CRT technology. Instead, it’s fitted with a modern flat matrix display that uses a software emulator to replicate the qualities of CRTs as closely as possible, with the company promising a truly "nostalgic" and "grainy" aesthetic.
The company’s husband and wife co-founders said CRT’s are an “amazing piece of technology,” but they ultimately decided not to use it because they’re “too heavy and fragile, difficult to source and require specialised knowledge to repair safely.” As such, they’re “not practical for modern production,” and there are also valid environmental concerns about the technology.
That said, the RetroBox’s specifications do sound familiar. It supports 240p and 480I resolutions in a 4:3 aspect ratio, and retro computer users will also appreciate the 15kHz horizontal scan and 60Hz vertical scan rates.
There has been quite a resurgence of retro gaming hardware in recent years, driven by the nostalgic desire among many older folks for authentic, vintage gaming experiences such as Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog. The RetroBox taps into this trend with its fusion of new and old tech, appealing to enthusiasts seeking products that truly replicate the visual and tactile feel of 1980s and 1990s electronics, an era that was marked by the emergence of home video gaming and VHS rentals.
VHS nostalgia has enjoyed a similar revival among older audiences longing for the simplistic technology of their youth, as well as younger people looking to see what the big deal is about all of these retro-style aesthetics. The RetroBox therefore seeks to position itself in a fast-growing market for technology products that can replicate the vintage functionality of yesteryear and give users a way to revisit their childhood memories.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment is that the RetroBox is, for now at least, an exclusively American project. It only supports the NTSC colour format for analog television, which means it’s almost certainly not going to be compatible with European VHS tapes. If RetroBox wants to launch in Europe, it’ll need to add support for the PAL standard, which requires a 50Hz refresh rate and 288p and 576i resolutions, and it would also be nice to have a SCART connector. Implementing all that would require quite a bit of work, but the company might be tempted to do so if its products sell well enough in its home market.
How well it will do remains to be seen, and a lot will depend on whether or not RetroBox’s emulator software is successfully able to mimic the true aesthetics of traditional CRT TVs. The lack of a remote control is promising at least, for who doesn't miss the delights of having to pick themselves up off the sofa to go and press a physical button on the TV to play, fast-forward and hit pause etc?
For now, it's still in development, but company promises to launch the RetroBox soon. It can be pre-ordered in the U.S. right now for $399, with 10 funky colours to choose from.
