Largest CRT Ever Built?
 

Am I correct in thinking that it's Sony's 40" XBR circa 2002? These sets I'm thinking of weighed almost 700 pounds but looked damn good IIRC.

But, were there ever any bigger CRTs sold to the public?

Even at 40", the whole notion of the crt becomes kinda impractical....

Sony had some 43 inch Monitors, they weren't for the public though.

There were some on eBay some years ago, I would have liked one just for the hell of it but they were $1500 and were as heavy as a piano.

Somebody on Youtube had a 40-inch Mitsubishi CRT set running in the background while showing their video and audio gear.

Here's a link to the 40-inch Mitsubishi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvDLwZry0hg

I have once worked on a 1988 42-inch Grundig console, it had a Toshiba CRT with a very curved screen.

Those big tubes have a massive tensioned rimband and are quite safe... but imagine being there when a 42-inch CRT implodes :yikes:

I had no idea they made CRTs that big, the biggest I have seen personally is a "36. I have one "36 Panasonic from '95. I would love to see one of those "43 Sonys.

Doesn't 42 Euopean inches equate to 40 US inches? Something about Europe measuring the entire screen, not just the viewable area, I remember.

Sony did make a 43" set back in the 90's. I recall seeing one at what is now a defunct store (Dow). That set had a price tag in the stratosphere.The sales puke stated that Spielberg purchased one (sales ploy???)

I thought there were bigger. I recall several years ago seeing the biggest I have seen to be about 46". And I know it wasn't rear projection.

I would imagine it could pull the nails from the wall. :sigh:

I can confirm that it was the Sony PVM-4300U. It was a 43" direct-view Trinitron tube. I have the service manual on it, and I've actually seen 3 of them in person. Eric is correct; they weren't "really" for sale to the public. Circuit City had one in West Los Angeles, with a price tag of $39,995.00. The two that were on eBay belonged to the late collector and our friend, Gary Inkman or Garden Grove, CA. I believe those in fact were two of the three that Circuit City had on display.

Charles

Wow! 43" of glass and tension band.. Trinitron tubes I believe have the thickest glass on the front of the crt I have ever seen too.. My frends and I a while back took a dead 15" sony computer monitor out back at work and started chuckin rocks at it. That CRT if insanely well built! (the CRT was bad anyway or I would have fely bad about it).

Damn, 43" is a huge tube. Thought it would be a Sony.

Like anyone cared if Spielberg had one; At that price I'd probably opt for a projector or rear projection TV.

I would think that somewhere around 40-45" would be the practical limit of what could be produced...

Oh good lord! I can only guess at the weight of that monster... No worries about it being stolen, as most burgelers wouldn't be able to lift it.

Kinda reminds me of that story I read a few years ago about these burgelers who broke into a professional weightlifter's garage, but failed to steal his equipment because they couldn't lift it. The weightlifter said something like "If anybody can physically move this stuff, they can have it!"