Scanwheel is an open-source project for building a mechanical television using a scanning drum and LEDs, controlled by a Raspberry Pi Pico. It achieves surprisingly high horizontal resolution through PIO hardware control, despite having only 20 vertical scan lines. The project includes detailed build instructions, part lists, and video demonstrations of the device in action.
Background
Mechanical television represents an early era of video transmission technology before electronic CRT displays became standard. Modern hobbyists often recreate these mechanisms to explore historical engineering concepts or for artistic display purposes.
- Source
- Lobsters
- Published
- Jul 26, 2026 at 11:15 AM
- Score
- 5.0 / 10