Perfection is an inherently subjective measure, in that one must choose the criteria against which to measure. A perfect circle is an absolutely rubbish octagon, for example. So when you see that [RetroBuiltGames] declares that he has built “the perfect multi-input display for retro gaming and vintage computing” — dubbed the “PixelVision AV1000 MKII”— keep in mind that he means the perfect display for his use case. That’s who he’s building it for, after all! The degree to which you find his product perfect is going to depend by-and-large how similar his use case is to yours. In that sense detailed explanations in the design/build video embedded below may be more valuable than the STEP files and PCBs in the GitHub link above– that way if your use case isn’t identical, you can perhaps learn something on the journey to build your own perfect monitor.

For [RetroBuiltGames] the aesthetic was obviously a big part of it– he’s inspired by the Amiga 1000’s monitor, and a tiny tilting Sony CRT TV.  He was obviously looking for many inputs, as given by the title, and he has an unusually high interest in pixel density for a retro enthusiast. Hence a 9.7″ 2K iPad display forms the basis of the project. The multi-input aspect is provided by a retrotink clone whose PCB lives in a bulge on the back of the unit that could easily house an SBC if you wanted an all-in-one emulation station– it already has a couple of decent speakers mounted in the sides.

Another big piece of the puzzle we don’t see enough of in such projects is Design For Manufacturing– the manufacturing method of choice being FDM 3D printing. The whole assembly was designed in chunks that can be easily printed  with the most visible surface flat on the bed – and if assembly proved difficult, than the parts were redesigned. His explanations aren’t a full DFM course by any means, but it’s good to see these things considered. If you need more detail on that front, we’ve featured plenty of such guides before.

We’re particularly taken by the conceit of creating his own packaging for the unit, and going to the effort of filming an unboxing video for a product he made himself. It’s just a bit of silly fun. We’ve seen boxes before, but generally speaking that sort of thing is saved for when a project becomes a product.