JamHamster's TZXDuino Build Boasts a Clever, Interactive, Curved CRT-Like User Interface Display

Building on earlier work to "emulate" a CRT from a flat display panel, this metal-encased gadget is a seriously shiny ZX Spectrum accessory.

Gareth Halfacree
2 years agoRetro Tech / Displays

Pseudonymous maker "JamHamster" has built a ZX Spectrum tape emulator with a difference: It boasts a curved display, created by bonding a lens directly onto the screen, which doubles as a button for interaction.

Developed as an open source project, the TZXDuino takes an Arduino microcontroller board with SD Card storage module and a compact LCD display and turns it into an emulated tape deck for the Sinclair/Timex ZX Spectrum family of microcomputers. A digital TAP or TZX file is loaded from the card and converted into audio that can be played back into the ZX Spectrum's tape socket — just like the traditional cassette version would be.

JamHamster's take on the project, though, is a little more attractive than most. While the core of the project is the same — Arduino, SD card, display, and amp — the housing sets it apart: A polished metal ring on top of which is a hand-made curved perspex lens - which is bonded to the I2C display to act as a magnifier and to give the panel a curved appearance reminiscent of a classic cathode-ray tube (CRT).

Impressively, the lens has another function: A four-way button input. Pushing at the top of the screen starts playback, while pushing along the bottom stops playback, fast-forwards, and rewinds — while also allowing the user to scroll through the list of tape files stored on the SD Card.

The project follows JamHamster's earlier experiments with curved lens display bonding, in which a Raspberry Pi 3 was hidden inside a miniature TV housing with a flat LCD panel mimicking a period-appropriate CRT using the same technique.

JamHamster has published a build thread on Twitter showing the work that went into the creation, along with a series of "glamour shots" on Reddit.

Gareth Halfacree
Freelance journalist, technical author, hacker, tinkerer, erstwhile sysadmin. For hire: freelance@halfacree.co.uk.
Latest articles
Sponsored articles
Related articles
Latest articles
Read more
Related articles