If you had your eye on a JC Ayala RetroldTech mini PVM, the bad news arrived fast: as of 30 August 2026, orders for the current production round are closed, with the production limit already reached, according to Retroldtech’s shop. The order window that opened on 29th August had been advertised to run through to 6th September, but the demand clearly did not need that long.
It is the pattern that anyone who has watched RetroldTech for a while will recognise: blink and it is gone. JC Ayala, described on his own site as a Spanish artist, modder and scale model artist, creates each unit by hand, which means every production run is finite by definition. No factory line, no restocking at the press of a button.
What JC Ayala RetroldTech Mini PVM Monitors Actually Are
The headline product is a compact, functional monitor built to capture the look and feel of a professional video monitor, the kind of CRT screen that broadcast engineers and serious retro gamers have long prized for their handling of analogue signals. JC Ayala brings a background in industrial Mechanical Engineering and Project Management to the work, and the combination of technical precision and what the maker describes as artistic sensibility shows in the finished units.
The current flagship range sits between 8 inches and 10.5 inches, with 28 shell colour options to match your setup. Inputs cover HDMI and VGA, the refresh rate runs at 60Hz, and the feature list includes volume knobs, bass and treble controls, auto input detection, front-facing buttons for power, input selection and OSD adjustments, and a remote control for OSD navigation. The remote takes a CR2032 battery, not included. A 12V supply at a minimum of 3A (5A recommended) is required and also not included.
Pricing for the 8-to-10.5-inch range runs from $825 to $1,475 depending on the configuration chosen. A slim model, a Pro model with higher resolution, and a Wide PVM in 16:9 ratio have all featured across different production runs.
Smaller Siblings: The Micro and Mini PVM Specs
The range does not stop at the larger monitors. Retroldtech has also produced the Micro PVM, a 3.5-inch IPS LCD panel running at 640×480 pixels and 60Hz, with an audio amplifier, stereo sound, dual speakers, and a single HDMI input, powered by USB-C. Below that sits the Mini PVM at 5 inches, also a TFT LCD at 640×480 pixels and 60Hz, again with stereo sound and dual speakers, but adding VGA and composite inputs alongside HDMI and running from a 12V PSU rather than USB-C.
Smaller still, JC has previously produced 3-inch versions, with prices for those starting at $600. Three inches. It sounds impossible until you see one.
Each size serves a different use case. The Micro, being USB-C powered, suits a desk where cable management matters. The Mini’s composite input makes it friendlier to older consoles outputting a basic video signal without needing an external scaler, though Retroldtech does note that consoles tested include the NES, SNES, N64, Saturn, Dreamcast, PS1, PS2 and Xbox, among others, and that some systems may benefit from an external scaler such as a RetroTINK, OSSC or Morph 4K for the best picture.
That caveat matters. Retro consoles were engineered for CRT displays and analogue signals. An LCD, however well-designed, is processing a signal those machines were never built to produce. The honest advice to use a scaler if results are not clean is the kind of thing a maker confident in their product says, rather than one hoping you never look too closely.
Handmade Means Limited, Always
JC’s route to the PVM monitors ran through recreation of classic consoles, controllers and cartridges before evolving into the compact monitor work that has become RetroldTech’s most acclaimed output. Because every unit is handmade, Retroldtech notes that slight imperfections may occur, that some front-facing buttons are aesthetic rather than functional, and that internal components are fixed and not intended to be removed or modified.
The pricing, anywhere from several hundred to well over a thousand dollars, reflects all of that: the materials, the hours, and the fact that JC Ayala is not a production line. For the people buying them, and they do sell out every time, that is clearly the point. Keep an eye on Retroldtech for the next production window announcement.
