I know how you feel. I have a 40" Sony WEGA and dread having to move that thing ever again (300+ lbs!!!!)

"Pre-programmed remote" (puripuroguramu-remokon) I understand, but what does it meany by "mystery remote" (fushigi-rimokon)?

不思議だな!

That Sony KX-45ED1 is new to me, and it must be an incredibly rare set given the price and size. Pro CRT monitors, like the Mitsubishi AM-4201R Megaview 42 reached a similar price, but for a consumer effort it had to be one of the priciest. There is almost no info available on it, and no reference to it whether it was available outside Japan. I couldn't find any pictures of surviving examples either, only a few grainy file photos. I'd love to have one, if for no other reason than as an example of the awesome kind of excesses created in bubble era Japan (along with lavish hand drawn anime the likes of which will never be seen again).

EDTV or クリアビジョン
It seems to be an extension of it unique to Japan to perform high-quality measures each sender, at the receiver side.

Interesting. Given the space constraints and tendency to dispose of old electronics (even working) in Japan, there are likely few of these still about. I could see someone outside Japan importing something like this, just to say they had the biggest TV in the world. Similarly there were some CRT MUSE HDTVs exported to the west by a few serious home theater enthusiasts.

The Sony Qualia 015 is also an interesting CRT set (although only 36 inches) which cost $11000 around 2003. It must be one of, if not the largest flat tube (ie. WEGA type), consumer market 16x9 sets (not sure if the full 36 inches is viewable, but this is still one serious TV with very unique styling). I wonder how many of these made it to the states? The Qualia 015 also seems to have been Japanese market, so an overseas buyer would have had to take the initiative to import one themselves.



Note the cabinet design, very nice.