Stream Real-Time Video from Raspberry Pi Pico to Nintendo Game Boy Color

Just a few days back, YouTuber ChromaLock shared an intriguing new hardware project with his followers. This time around, he unveiled a Game Boy Color that has been ingeniously modified to play video using its original link cable, a Raspberry Pi Pico, and custom software crafted specifically for the task.

Now, when it comes to video playback, simplicity is key. Simpler videos tend to have a higher FPS, offering an unexpectedly clear and smooth experience, especially when compared to the classic Game Boy Camera. However, most videos work best in monochrome on this platform. Given the color limitations—just a palette of four—any attempt at full color makes it harder to manage on the Game Boy Color’s modest 160 x 144-pixel display.

ChromaLock didn’t stop at the demonstration. He’s also worked on an app, CGBLinkVideo, which he has shared on GitHub. Built on some open-source software, this tool is designed to work with a Raspberry Pi Pico, Game Boy Color, and a link cable. The video compression pushes the quality down to 1 Megabyte per second, yet the Link Cable can only handle 64 Kilobytes per second. This huge compression results in phenomena like dropped or split frames, though the video does play back, albeit not flawlessly.

In his video, ChromaLock dives deep into the technical challenge of squeezing video playback out of the Game Boy Color while working around its system constraints. With grayscale or monochrome, he hits frame rates as high as 60 FPS, though color video drops to around 12 FPS. He even experimented with streaming video games. Sadly, playing even original Game Boy titles this way was a downgrade from native play, and modern 3D games—like the graphically demanding Doom Eternal—were a blurry mess given the Game Boy Color’s ancient screen resolution.

The real thrill of this project for ChromaLock seemed to be getting the iconic Touhou Project music video “Bad Apple” to run smoothly on the Game Boy Color. The video’s monochrome nature made it ideal for pushing up to 60 FPS. Despite some noticeable dithering caused by the streaming technique, achieving this feat on a Game Boy Color is quite a triumph.