The Sony PVM-4300 is an ultra-rare television set that achieved legendary status for being the largest Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) TV ever sold.
Announced in late 1988 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Sony’s Trinitron brand, the PVM-4300 was an incredibly expensive, made-to-order device that most people could only dream of buying. It went on sale in Japan at a retail price of 2,430,000 Japanese yen ( about $17,500 by the 1988 exchange rate) and featured advanced technology designed to reduce eye-straining flicker and improve image clarity on large-size screens and a 108cm picture tube, the largest of its kind ever made. The world’s largest CRT TV was so heavy that it had a special, forkliftable casing, as well as handles that bolt onto the sides of the monitor for improved grip. According to Sony’s installation manual, at least six people were required to lift the TV set safely.
When it finally came to the United States, in 1990, the Sony PVM-4300 CRT TV was not only the biggest of its kind, but probably the most expensive one as well, at a whopping $40,000. It was one of the main reason it did not sell very well, and why, for a long period of time, the PVM-4300 was little more than a myth. With no real-life units to be found and only a couple of “real-life” photos to go on apart from the vintage promotion material from its launch, people could only imagine what it really looked like. And then a miracle happened!
On December 22, 2024, respected gaming console modder Shanks shocked the world with a YouTube video featuring a functional Sony PVM-4300. With the help of a group of friends and fellow modders, he managed to track down one of the units in the only two real-life photos to the second floor of a soba noodle shop in Osaka and had it shipped to the United States to be cleaned and repaired. It was like finding out that Bigfoot was real all along.
It’s unclear how many Sony PVM-4300 TVs were ever made, but judging by their extreme rarity, Shanks’ PVM-4300 may be the only one left in the world.
