Pi Media Player 240-MP Brings VCR Nostalgia to CRTs

240-MP CRT – A new GPLv3 media player for Raspberry Pi, called 240-MP, leans hard into 90s VCR styling for CRT setups. It can output retro-friendly composite video for 240p, while also supporting HDMI for modern TVs up to 4K—using MPV under the hood for playback, local fil

A familiar blue-and-white interface suddenly appears on the screen—like the click of a VCR trying to wake up after years in a drawer. The difference is that this one isn’t coming from a tape deck. It’s coming from a Raspberry Pi. with a new player called 240-MP that’s built specifically for CRTs and their retro feel.

240-MP is released under the GPLv3 license and is presented as a retro-styled media player with a very particular target audience: people still running televisions that expect composite video. The developer behind the project. Anthony Caccese. frames it as an explicit nod to VHS-era interfaces. with the player designed to give that old-school look even while staying flexible in what it can play.

That flexibility shows up in how it handles resolution. The player isn’t limited to 240p even though the styling evokes the 90s. If you connect it to a vintage CRT over composite—like Caccese does in his setup—it will do that retro-friendly output. But if you want to use HDMI instead on a modern TV. that’s an option too. with support for 4K output if your display and hardware setup can handle it. Higher-resolution video requires a “beefier Pi,” and playback is managed through MPV, with 240-MP acting as a wrapper around it.

The interface itself is part of the appeal. While the demo design is blue-and-white and VHS-like. the styling can shift—supporting green-and-black as easily as white-and-blue. along with custom color schemes defined by the user. The project also suggests there may be better matches for CRTs than for flat panels. but it still points to another niche: plasma TVs. where the vintage look could fit the display style.

In the demo video, the player is shown handling multiple ways to consume media. It can list and play local files, including playlists. It can also stream via a PLEX server. Caccese notes that add-ons—like launching emulators—may be forthcoming, but they’re not available immediately. If someone wants that functionality now, the path forward is straightforward: code it themselves.

For all the VCR-inspired energy, one detail feels missing to anyone who grew up interacting with tapes the physical way. The project doesn’t appear to offer control via physical tokens—something the report says would have matched the VCR magic. The idea of recreating that portion of the experience has been explored in other projects before. and if the appeal isn’t really about the tapes. there’s also the option to simulate cable TV.

If you’ve kept a CRT alive for the look—rather than nostalgia alone—240-MP is built for the moment you plug in and hit play. It’s a media center made from a small computer, dressed like an old VCR, and flexible enough to live in a modern setup when you want it to.

Raspberry Pi 240-MP MPV CRT VCR styling GPLv3 composite video HDMI 4K Plex streaming retro media player