A 59-year-old furniture restorer from Britain has modded his half-century-old television ahead of the digital switchover. Richard Howard spent $225 on a Bush Television Receiver and watched everything on it—including the moon landings—until the late '80s, when TV pictures changed from the 405-line format to 625 lines. With the analog-to-digital switchover looming, however, Mr Howard wondered if it would be possible to rejig his 1957 telly so that he could watch Madonna videos in glorious black-and-whitenicolor.

Using an electronic converter sourced from the US, a specialist shop put the mahogany-cased telly back on the airwaves for around $400. They also replaced 13 old capacitators, the brightness control, and added a lead in order to prevent the tube from burning out.

Despite the 21st-century makeover, Mr Howard's set is still not a thoroughly modern telly. It takes 10 seconds to warm up and still emits what he refers to as an "old TV smell" from the warming of the paxolin resin insulators. [Daily Mail]

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