Put a fireplace video on the TinyTV 2 and you have a television small enough to sit on a matchbox showing a fire too small to light the match. TinyCircuits made this miniature retro TV for people who miss turning a dial to see what else is on. The dial works, the picture moves, and if getting up to change channels sounds exhausting, the set comes with a remote roughly appropriate for a very opinionated mouse.
The brown plastic cabinet stands just under two inches tall on four spindly legs. Look straight at it and the family resemblance is uncanny: a silver surround frames the screen, two dark knobs flank a little speaker opening, and the whole thing stands up on its own. Set it beside a pencil and suddenly it’s the pencil that looks like a piece of construction equipment.
It’s fully assembled and already has videos on it. That’s a useful distinction in the world of miniature electronics, where a promising box sometimes turns out to contain an evening of soldering. Here, the first thing the recipient gets to do is switch on the television. The elaborate plans for a walnut-paneled dollhouse den can come later.
What happens when you turn the channel knob?
The TinyTV plays stored videos as channels. One front knob changes what you’re watching; the other changes the volume coming out of its front-facing speaker. There’s a power button on top. You can reach all three with one hand, a considerable improvement over the family console that required sending the youngest child across the carpet.
Don’t buy it hoping to pick up the local news. There’s no over-the-air tuner and it doesn’t wirelessly stream a TV service. What you get instead is control over the entire schedule. If the dog chasing a lawn sprinkler deserves a dedicated channel in your house, there is no programming director here to say otherwise.
That distinction also makes it a fun gift to set up before wrapping. A phone full of family footage is an archive that somebody ought to sort someday. A little television with Grandpa waving from his fishing boat already playing on it has a much better chance of getting passed around after dinner. Start with one recognizable face and a few seconds of action; nobody needs the complete boating season.
Programming an extremely local station
TinyCircuits provides a free TinyTV Converter for turning MP4 videos into files the player understands. Convert your footage on a computer, then transfer it over USB-C. The set plays its saved material on battery power, so once the clips are loaded you can take it to a different room without bringing the computer or asking anyone for their Wi-Fi password.
A little editing goes a long way on a screen this size. Picture a wide shot of a soccer field: twenty-two distant people and a ball have to share about an inch. Now picture a close-up of the goalkeeper grinning through a missing front tooth. That’s the shot you want. Here are a few ways to build a lineup around what the screen does well:
- Give each pet a channel. A cat washing one paw in close-up makes better miniature television than a dark speck moving under the couch.
- Record a fireplace or the surf for a model living room. Big, repeated movements still read when the furniture is only a few inches across.
- For a birthday gift, have each person look into the camera and deliver a short greeting. Changing channels then becomes part of opening the present.
You can also send video from a connected computer over USB-C. That’s a different arrangement from copying files: the cable stays in place while the computer supplies the picture. For a shelf display, decide where that cable will go before you build the exquisitely tiny entertainment center around it.
How much television fits in two inches?
| Part | What you get |
|---|---|
| Cabinet | About 47.6 mm tall, 36.6 mm across and 25.9 mm deep |
| Color display | 216 by 135 pixels |
| Built-in storage | 8 GB, about ten hours of converted video |
| Battery | About two hours of playback per charge |
| Computer connection | USB-C for charging and loading videos |
The ten-hour figure describes how much material fits inside, not how long it runs between charges. You can put a whole afternoon of programming in there, but the battery will want an intermission well before the afternoon is over. A USB-C cable isn’t included. If you’re giving it to someone with an older computer, include a data-capable cable that fits both ends so they can load their own clips.
The remote is infrared, and TinyCircuits recommends pointing it toward the top of the set from roughly twelve to eighteen inches away. Think desk-chair distance. If you plan to put the television inside a miniature cabinet, leave a clear line to the receiver and enough room above it for a finger to reach the power button.
A working set for a miniature living room
TinyCircuits suggests the set for a 1:12 scale scene. At that scale, the height works out to a full-size cabinet a little under two feet tall. That’s useful if you’re arranging a room: cut a slip of paper to the footprint first and see whether the screen will face the sofa or the potted fern. Allow a little extra depth for a plugged-in cable.
The brown shell is a good match for a room full of midcentury furniture. There’s also a clear version if the electronics inside are part of the attraction. On an actual desk the brown one’s appeal is almost the opposite: leave the screen off and it looks like a little ornament. Turn it on while someone is standing there and let them discover the volume knob for themselves.
One domestic tradition survives the change in scale perfectly: losing the remote. Pick a home for it before you start shuffling papers. At least this time you can operate the entire television without it, and searching between full-size sofa cushions for the thing is strictly optional.
TinyTV 2 at a glance
- Assembled brown miniature television with preloaded channels, a speaker and two working knobs.
- Includes a matching infrared remote and runs from a rechargeable battery.
- Accepts your own converted videos from a computer; no wireless service or broadcast reception.
- Small parts make this a collectible for a desk or model scene; the seller labels it unsuitable for children under three.
The brown TinyCircuits TinyTV 2 was listed at $59.95 on Amazon, sold by TinyCircuits. Its strongest audience is probably someone who already knows exactly what they’d put on channel one. For everyone else, the preloaded lineup gives the station time to find its voice.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Preloaded videos play straight away. | Personal footage needs conversion and a computer. |
| Knobs and included remote both work. | The remote is designed for close range. |
| Fits a desk or a miniature room without an outlet nearby. | Battery life is about two hours. |
| Custom channels play without Wi-Fi. | No broadcast tuner or wireless streaming. |
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This Miniature Retro TV Plays Your Own Videos as Channels
At a glance
Product snapshot
- Listed price
- $59.95Prices and availability can change. Check the seller for current details.
- Where to find it
- Amazon.com
- Category
- Gadgets
