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The biggest CRT ever made: Sony's PVM-4300

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235 points rbanffy | 3 comments | 21 Jun 24 22:22 UTC | HN request time: 0.635s | source
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MenhirMike ◴[22 Jun 24 21:33 UTC] No.40762400[source]▶
I'm kinda curious if CRT technology advanced to the point where a TV like that would've been possible at a better weight and price tag? I assume that CRT technology development stopped decades ago, but could we have e.g., replaced the heavy glass with some plastic-like material to save weight without compromising the picture? And are there any heavy components in the mechanism itself (Coils, Magnets?) that would have had alternatives?

I know it's just theorycrafting, but I do wonder what kind of CRT someone could've created if it wasn't for market economy forces.

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1. shrubble ◴[22 Jun 24 22:45 UTC] No.40762908[source]▶
The glass has to be thicker, thus more weight, to withstand implosion from the vacuum it is holding.
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2. NikkiA ◴[22 Jun 24 23:22 UTC] No.40763155[source]▶
Gorilla glass or sapphire glass might have enabled lighter tubes at a higher price, had CRTs retained popularity, but from what I can see, Corning never even considered it as a use case for Gorilla glass in their original 1960s attempt at development.
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3. MBCook ◴[23 Jun 24 02:57 UTC] No.40764390[source]▶
Would there be any point? Given the TV sizes of the 60s standard glass was probably more than strong enough, and the tube wouldn’t be very heavy.

No one would need to really think about until around 2000.