u/DynaMight1124

If anyone saw my ESP32-S3 SNES controller HDMI thing from yesterday. I had also been working on a sister project, not actually sure which one I thought of first but the other came shortly after and I have been working on and off for a few months now.

This one is a ESP32 that outputs composite. Its based on some work done by much cleverer people than me who worked out you can actually output AV signals using only an ESP32, so I asked AI if it could use that sample code to write a TVOut driver for RetroGo, since that already has quite a few emulators and has a lovely interface.

It was not a quick process, lots of no sync, half syncs, wrong colours, panics, crashes etc but once it got something semi stable, it actually moved quite quickly, however it turns out that processing an AV signal is quite expensive (both CPU and memory) compared to outputting a SPI signal to a LCD so performance is hampered, but luckily the original Retro-Go emulators are so well optimised they still play full speed, even Doom!

This one is a very simple device, just the bare basics of a ESP32, SD slot, voltage reg, AV port and USB port plus some caps/resistors.

Not sure how popular a AV device will be in 2026 but I made it for fun so I will be sharing all the files, gerbers etc over the next week or so

Been working on this on and off for a few months. Its a little thought I had on a walk one day and wondered if it was possible.

So obviously the ESP32-S3 cannot output to HDMI etc... but the Pico can so I wondered if I could get the Pico to receive standard LCD signals and convert to HDMI (including sound) turns out it can. Well turns out AI can, its amazing what AI can do, I know a lot of pureists will hate this but if it wasnt for AI, I wouldnt had been able to even start this project.

The rest was a little more straight forward, create a PCB (fits in original and AliExpress controllers) that has both Pico and the ESP32 etc. Create a custom target for Retro-Go (it has some of my own ports like Quake, Duke3D, ROTT, Wolf3D plus all the original emulators) Retro-Go just outputs to an LCD display as it normally does.

It can also be powered directly by HDMI using a cheap 5v injector, its powered directly in the picture but has ran for hours powered via HDMI only.

I'll most likely upload all the files, gerbers, code etc next week or so since its pointless showing off something if you're not willing to share.

Went down a little rabbit hole with this project. Started off being a simple case for a CYD that looked like a Retro TV-ish that played some video clips but ended up designing a mini controller so it plays retro games but also Doom, Duke3D and some other ports!

All info to build is here: https://www.instructables.com/CYD-Retro-Mini-TV-Play-Videos-and-Retro-Games/