A maker-built console from RayTriangle squeezes an ESP32-S3, a battery and custom television circuitry into a pair of 9.5 mm antenna plugs, then sends a picture to a compatible TV over its antenna input. It can run DOOM, with an Xbox Series X controller providing input over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). The project is framed as the “world’s smallest” TV console, but the available coverage does not independently verify a world record. Its documented target is PAL television with a VHF tuner—not every modern TV.
What is the tiny DOOM console?
It is a custom maker project by RayTriangle, not a documented retail console. The creator chose the ESP32-S3 as the computing platform and added DOOM as a project constraint. The finished packaging uses two 9.5 mm antenna plugs as a miniature enclosure for the boards and battery. Hackaday reported on the build on October 8, 2026; the creator’s project write-up is dated August 3, 2026.
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The antenna-plug form factor is functional as well as compact: the design includes RF circuitry to send the signal through a television’s antenna input. The creator says a battery is necessary because the antenna connection does not provide power. An early 8.5 mm-diameter battery candidate could not supply enough current; the creator reports system consumption of about 120 mA with BLE enabled. That figure is the creator’s reported consumption, not an independent measurement.
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The creator designed the output for analog PAL televisions in their region. Since the ESP32-S3 does not have a fast DAC for directly synthesizing the required signal, the design combines digital output, precomputed lookup tables and resistor-based conversion. The creator describes lookup tables for PAL chroma waveforms and luma, a resistor DAC for composite video, and an RF carrier derived from a divided ESP32-S3 clock output.
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From composite video to antenna input
In the final approach, the creator says an 8-bit R-2R DAC generates the video signal and a two-transistor mixer combines it with the RF carrier. The write-up describes calibration using measurements from an SDR and TinySA. The creator reports that an earlier four-resistor DAC could produce playable DOOM but had poor color resolution and visible color distortion. The later mixer improved color and image stability compared with the simpler experiments, with trade-offs in modulation depth and brightness. These are the creator’s build observations, not independent laboratory results.
Will it work with your TV?
Compatibility depends on the television’s analog tuner and standard. The documented design targets PAL and a VHF tuner; the creator discusses a PAL B/G channel 2 carrier target. The clock-derived carrier is described as 48 MHz, made by dividing a 240 MHz system clock by five, compared with a 48.25 MHz PAL B/G channel 2 target. These are design figures in the creator’s write-up, not independent confirmation of compliance or reception on every set.
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Hackaday suggests that adapting the design to UHF or NTSC might be possible with ingenuity, but the reviewed sources do not show a completed UHF or NTSC adaptation. A television without a compatible analog antenna tuner is therefore not established as compatible. The project’s PAL/VHF target should not be read as a promise that it works with modern televisions generally.
How do you control it, and what are the limitations?
RayTriangle chose an Xbox Series X controller because it connects over BLE, which the ESP32-S3 supports. The small, shielded enclosure makes the controller antenna a packaging challenge; the creator describes using a tuned piece of wire for that connection.
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The creator reports noisy audio and says audio leaked into the video despite an attempted band-pass filter. Hackaday also describes the visible output as somewhat noisy. These are reported prototype limitations, not findings from independent testing.
Can you buy the console or build one?
The reviewed sources do not establish that the finished console is sold commercially or offered as a kit. RayTriangle’s write-up links project and hardware files for people interested in the design. An ESP32-S3 development board may be a starting component for a separate experiment, but it is not the finished antenna-plug console.
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