Computer Shopper - UK (2020-04)

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ISSUE386||COMPUTER SHOPPER||APRIL2020 125

ADDINGBROADCASTTVtothepowerand
flexibility of acomputer has been adream of
geeks fordecades, with many high-profile
missteps along the way. Windows XP Media
Center Edition promised much in 2004, but
the project was closed soon after and retired
in 2009.Intel launched its Viiv hardware
ecosystem in 2006 to make x86-based home
theatre devices as prevalent as laptops and
desktops. That didn’t quiteworkout,either:
ARM processors are still at the heart of most
of the fancy boxes under our TVs. Which
brings us to the latest effort at PC-like TV
viewing, the Raspberry Pi TV HAT.
The TV HATisanofficialRaspberry Pi
Foundation release,which brings the usual
hope of standardisation; with official backing
andprevalent use,hopefully the software
support will be robust and well featured.
The HATwas launched in October 2018,
and the recommended softwareisalready
pretty solid. With one exception.
The TV HATshould work with Raspberry
Pi Zeros (first-gen and wireless Wmodels),
but we foundour chosen media centre
software wouldn’t run reliably on either of
our Pi Zero Wboards. There is still the
option of runningaPiZero with aTVHAT as
akindofnetwork-attached TV tuner,but we
decided to focusthis article on making afully
featured set-topbox, media streaming device.

HARDWARE
We’ve used an old Raspberry Pi 3B, but you
can use aRaspberry Pi 4B. The 1GB model
should be fine,aswefound the 1GB Pi 3B
(£34) to be fine.Ifyou plan on running other
services from your build, a2GB (£44) or
even 4GB Pi 4B (£54) is worth bagging
instead. You’ll probably need to buy apower
supplyaswell(£ 8 )asaspareeeeephonecharger
aaaa

You’ll need amicroSD card, and as the

difference between a16GB and 32GB card is

only £2 (£7 versus £9), you mayaswell get

the bigger version. It’s possible to install a

Pi-friendly operating system on larger cards,

but that can lead to technical complexities.

Windows will use the exFAT or NTFS file

system for64GB SD cards, and the Pi can

only boot from devices using the FATfile

system. If you’ll be recording TV,orplan

to store lots of musicand video on the Pi,

you’dbebetteroffusingalow-costUSB

oooo

As the Pi 4B has only microHDMI

outputs (albeit 4K-capable ones), you’ll need

an adaptor or amicroHDMI-to-HDMI cable

(£5). While the Pi Zero boards also use

microHDMI, all other Pis use afull-size

HDMI output. Finally,you’ll need acase

that can accommodatethe Pi and HAT,

and the only one that we could find was

the TV HATCase forRaspberry Pi 4(£9).

This is also compatible with Pi 3B boards,

but we would want to ensure the aerial

connectooooorisfirmlysupported asmonths

aaaa

⬆The TV HATcm nee to securely attac aaaaptor foryoreri

⬅UsetheUSB-SD

Creatortoolto

transformyourSD

cardintoabootable

deviceforthePi