FD Trinitron/WEGA is
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
's flat version of the
Trinitron
Trinitron was Sony's brand name for its line of aperture-grille-based CRTs used in television sets and computer monitors. One of the first truly innovative television systems to enter the market since the 1950s, the Trinitron was announced in ...
picture tube. First introduced in 1998 on Sony's 32-inch and 36-inch
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...
s, this technology was also used in
computer monitor
A computer monitor is an output device that displays information in pictorial or textual form. A discrete monitor comprises a visual display, support electronics, power supply, housing, electrical connectors, and external user controls.
The ...
s bearing the Trinitron mark. The FD Trinitron used computer-controlled feedback systems to ensure sharp focus across a flat screen. The FD Trinitron reduces the amount of glare on the screen by reflecting much less ambient light than spherical or vertically flat CRTs. Flat screens also increase total image viewing angle
[https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/res/manuals/W000/W0000971M.pdf ] and have less geometric distortion in comparison to curved screens. The FD Trinitron line featured key standard improvements over prior Trinitron designs including a finer pitch
aperture grille
An aperture grille is one of two major technologies used to manufacture color cathode-ray tube (CRT) televisions and computer displays; the other is the shadow mask.
Fine vertical wires behind the front glass of the display screen separate t ...
, an
electron gun
An electron gun (also called electron emitter) is an electrical component in some vacuum tubes that produces a narrow, collimated electron beam that has a precise kinetic energy. The largest use is in cathode-ray tubes (CRTs), used in nearl ...
with a greater focal length for corner focus, and an improved
deflection yoke
A deflection yoke is a kind of magnetic lens, used in cathode ray tubes to scan the electron beam both vertically and horizontally over the whole screen.
In a CRT television, the electron beam is moved in a raster scan on the screen. By adjusti ...
for color convergence.
Initially introduced on their 32 and 36 inch models in 1998, the new tubes were offered in a variety of resolutions for different uses. The basic WEGA models supported normal 480i signals, but a larger version offered 16:9 aspect ratios. The technology was quickly applied to the entire Trinitron range, from 13 to 40 inch. High resolution versions, Hi-Scan and Super Fine Pitch, were also produced. With the introduction of the FD Trinitron, Sony also introduced a new industrial style, leaving the charcoal colored sets introduced in the 1980s for a new silver styling.
In 2001, the FD Trinitron WEGA series had become the top selling television model in the United States. By 2003, over 40 million sets had been sold worldwide. As the television market shifted towards
LCD
A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly but i ...
technology, Sony eventually ended production of the Trinitron in Japan in 2004, and in the US in 2006. Sony would continue to sell the Trinitron in China, India, and regions of South America using tubes delivered from their
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
plant. Worldwide production ended when Singapore ceased production in March 2008. The FD Trinitron series is one of the most sought after televisions among hobbyists of
retro gaming.
FD Trinitron CRT variants
There were four primary variants of the FD Trinitron as used in televisions.

''Super Fine Pitch'' refers to Sony's line of Trinitrons with high horizontal resolution and very fine aperture grille
stripe pitch. By the end of CRT's market dominance, only Sony and
JVC
JVC (short for Japan Victor Company) is a Japanese brand owned by JVCKenwood corporation. Founded in 1927 as the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan and later as , the company is best known for introducing Japan's first televisions and for ...
had released such high-resolution CRT
HDTVs to the non-professional consumer market. ''Hi-Scan'' is Sony's trademark for all Trinitron displays capable of processing a 1080i signal. ''Super Fine Pitch'' tubes naturally fall into this category, as do some Sony Trinitron
SDTVs that cannot physically resolve 1080 lines of vertical resolution, but the term Hi-Scan is commonly used to refer to Sony Trinitron HDTVs that do not feature an SFP tube. 16:9 Enhanced
WEGA models differ from original WEGA models mainly in their ability to display
anamorphic
Anamorphic format is the cinematography technique of shooting a widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film or other visual recording media with a non-widescreen native aspect ratio. It also refers to the projection format in which a distorted ...
video content in its proper
screen aspect ratio. FD Trinitron CRTs were available in several screen aspect ratios.
4:3 and
16:9 were used on the WEGA line of televisions. Many 4:3 monitors were produced as well as several models using an aspect ratio of
16:10 (such as the GDM-W900 and GDM-FW900). Competitors included
Mitsubishi
The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries.
Founded by YatarÅ Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 187 ...
with their Diamondtron NF brand of flat aperture grille CRT displays, as used in certain computer monitors from Mitsubishi,
NEC, and
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...
.
List of Sony FD Trinitron/WEGA television models released in the United States
''Listed in descending order according to size, release date, and product line.''
See also
*
XBR (Sony)
XBR is Sony's highest performance series of BRAVIA LCD, OLED, and formerly, Trinitron CRT and WEGA CRT / Plasma televisions featuring advanced features and progressive industrial design. According to Sony, ''XBR'' is an acronym for e''X''tended ''B ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fd Trinitron Wega
Sony products
History of television
Television technology
Vacuum tube displays
Cathode ray tube