How the largest CRT ever made was finally found and documented

In the realm of retro gaming, a key principle many live by is the idea of the preservation of history. After all, the very nature of the hobby is appreciating that which has been lost to time, and not just games, but hardware itself. This naturally extends to the iconic TVs of the time period, the CRT display. While rather bulky by modern standards, the legacy these screens hold explains the large community centering around them. Yet even among those most educated on these systems, there’s still a holy grail waiting out there that up until recently was nearly entirely undocumented.

 

 

The CRT in question is the KX-45ED1, also known as the PVM-4300, the largest CRT ever sold with a 45 in screen and weighing over 440 lbs. That weight might come as a surprise, but it has to do with a unique challenge CRT TVs face. CRTs utilize a vacuum tube to create the display, and as the screen size increases, the pressure that tube faces increases dramatically. As a result, large CRTs require incredibly thick lead walls to prevent them from imploding. This effectively limited the size they could reach, and so large models such as this were not made with practicality in mind. The PVM-4300 sold for $40,000 at the time, which equates to over $100,000 today. This is a large part of what made this TV so elusive, it was a luxury item that very few people would ever have actually owned.

Despite this, photos of the TV did exist online, albeit very sparingly. Many didn’t even know if the white whale of CRTs was even real. That is until YouTuber Shank Mods tracked down the location of one via a seven year old photo. The TV was residing in a Japanese noodle factory set to be demolished, and so a race began to save this piece of history. Through a frantic ordeal with the help of Abebe Tinari, the director of Bayonetta Origins, the legendary CRT was arranged to be shipped to the US where it could be preserved and documented. For the full story of how this miracle mission was orchestrated as well as an interview with the original owner, be sure to check out the full video for more.

 

 

Finding a gem like this in as good of condition as it was was practically a miracle. Naturally, the TV did require some repairs and tuning, particularly with the dynamic convergence amplifier, but luckily it all went down without much trouble. What was once not even known for sure to actually exist as a commercial product being found is a moment that will go down forever in the history of both CRT hobbyist and retro gaming enthusiast circles alike. 

 

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