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Sony PVM-4300

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Sony PVM-4300
Front left face view of the monitor
ManufacturerSony
Product familyTrinitron, PVM
TypeCRT video monitor
Release dateJP: April 1989
US: 1990
Introductory price
Units shippedUS: ~20
Display45-inch (43-inch viewable) aperture grille cathode-ray tube
Dimensions105 × 92.5 × 76.7 cm (41.3 × 36.4 × 30.1 in)
Weight199.6 kg (440 lb)
Marketing targetProfessional, Videophile
RelatedSony KV-45ED1T

The Sony PVM-4300, also known as the KX-45ED1, is a cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitor released by Sony in 1989. It is the largest CRT monitor ever manufactured, with a 43-inch (110 cm) diagonal display and a weight of around 200 kilograms (440 lb).[1][2] Development of the display was finished in September 1987; it was put on sale in Japan in April 1989 and in the United States in 1990.

When documentary evidence of the monitor declined following its release, the monitor became famous among CRT enthusiasts. In 2024, one of the last known PVM-4300s was recovered by hardware modder Shank of the YouTube channel Shank Mods.

History

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Development

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In the late 1980s, Sony began developing a 43-inch display tube, which was finished in September 1987. The PVM-4300 was unveiled in a 1988 issue of the Japanese DIGIC magazine and in American tech publications, with no official release date given.[3][4]

Release and sales

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The PVM-4300 was released by Sony in Japan in April 1989 for an introductory price of ¥2.6 million in Japan.[5][6] Around twenty sets were imported into the United States around January 1990, with an introductory price of $39,999.99[7] ($101,463 in 2024). It was described as being aimed at the "videophile and elite-consumer market."[8]

In April 1990, Jim Palumbo, president of Sony's Consumer Display Products Co., reported to the Sun Sentinel that only three PVM-4300 sets had been sold in the United States,[9] although a month earlier he had told the Chicago Tribune that "at least four or five" had been sold.[7]

Back view of the monitor

Obscurity

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Following its release in the late 1980s, photographic and documentary evidence of the monitor began to dry up, which, in addition to its limited release, gained it a somewhat legendary status among enthusiasts of CRT monitors.[10][11]

Rediscovery

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In December 2024, hardware modder Shank of the Shank Mods YouTube channel tracked down a functional PVM-4300, one of the last, in the second-floor waiting room of Chikuma Soba, a soba noodle restaurant in Osaka, Japan.[10] Shank, with the help of another person and a company involved in shipping of industrial equipment, arranged for the monitor to be shipped to the United States. It was thoroughly tested and serviced upon arrival.[10][11]

Specifications

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Top view of the monitor with a calico cat
Top view of the monitor with a calico cat for comparison

The PVM-4300 has a 45-inch (with a 43-inch viewing area) color Trinitron Microblack CRT picture tube, which is the largest ever produced.[5] It can display a standard interlaced image as well as a 480p picture at a 60 Hz refresh rate, using improved-definition television (IDTV), which used a digital frame buffer to deinterlace video.[12] The monitor contains two RGB inputs at 15.75 and 31.5 kHz to allow for native 480p inputs.[13] It does not have a built-in TV tuner.

According to CRT Database, the unit weighs 199.6 kg (440 lb), and measures at 105 × 92.5 × 76.7 cm (41.3 × 36.4 × 30.1 in).[14]

Reception

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Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune expressed his astonishment at the size and of the cost of the monitor, writing: "This TV set is to your TV set what your TV set is to an old Popsicle stick in the gutter with ants on it."[7] A review in the Sun Sentinel expressed a similar sentiment to its cost yet praised the monitor for its "brightness, clarity and sharpness of color."[9] A 1989 issue of Video Review described it as the "best-looking, big-screen set we've ever seen", but also said it's "designed more as a statement than a conventional product."[15]

Shank, after acquiring the set in 2024, described it as looking "incredible" in person.[11]

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  • Front view of the set
    Front view of the set
  • Internal view of the set, showing the boards and electron gun inside
    Internal view of the set, showing the boards and electron gun inside
  • View of the slide-out control tray at the bottom of the monitor
    View of the slide-out control tray at the bottom of the monitor
  • Front right face view of the set
    Front right face view of the set

References

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  1. ^ Smil, Vaclav (May 14, 2024). Size: How It Explains the World. HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 29–30. ISBN 978-0-06-332410-7.
  2. ^ Poelman 2024, p. 1.
  3. ^ Lachenbruch, David (November 1988). "Video News". Radio-Electronics. Vol. 59, no. 11. pp. 6–7. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  4. ^ "トリニトロンとは何か". DIGIC (in Japanese). Vol. 9. October 1988. pp. 10–11. Archived from the original on December 10, 2024. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Beschizza, Rob (June 23, 2024). "Sony's PVM-4300 was the "biggest CRT ever made"". Boing Boing. Archived from the original on January 26, 2025. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  6. ^ Farquhar, Dave (June 19, 2024). "The biggest CRT ever made: Sony's PVM-4300". The Silicon Underground. Archived from the original on January 25, 2025. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c Zorn, Eric (March 6, 1990). "TO GET THE BIG PICTURE, YOU'LL NEED A BIG WALLET". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on February 4, 2025. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  8. ^ "ELECTRONICS WISHLIST" (PDF). Popular Electronics. Vol. 7, no. 2. February 1990. p. 58. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  9. ^ a b "FOR $40,000, TV'S PICTURE BETTER BE SHARP". South Florida Sun Sentinel. April 22, 1990. Archived from the original on October 13, 2023. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  10. ^ a b c Orland, Kyle (December 23, 2024). "The quest to save the world's largest CRT TV from destruction". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on January 26, 2025. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  11. ^ a b c Tyson, Mark (December 23, 2024). "Console modder hunts down world's largest CRT TV — saves it from noodle restaurant demolition death half the way around the globe". Tom's Hardware. Archived from the original on January 26, 2025. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  12. ^ Gardner 1989, p. 30.
  13. ^ Sony Monitor Manual: PVM 4300 Operating Instructions. Sony Corporation. 1989. p. 12.
  14. ^ "Sony PVM-4300 | CRT Database". crtdatabase.com. December 22, 2024. Archived from the original on February 4, 2025. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  15. ^ Fagan, Gregory P. (August 1989). "Sony's 43-inch Direct-View TV". Video Review. Vol. 10, no. 5. p. 32. Retrieved February 5, 2025.

Bibliography

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