Trinitron in the context of "Sony Group Corporation"

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⭐ Core Definition: Trinitron

Trinitron was Sony's brand name for its line of aperture-grille-based CRTs used in television sets and computer monitors. It was one of the first television systems to enter the market since the 1950s. The first color Trinitron system was released in October 1968. 100 million Trinitron systems had been sold by 1994.

Patent protection on the basic Trinitron design ran out in 1996, and it quickly faced a number of competitors at much lower prices. Sony ended production from Japanese plants in 2004, and stopped selling them in the United States and Canada in 2006. Sony continued to sell Trinitrons in China, India, and regions of South America using tubes delivered from their Singapore plant until it ended production in March 2008. During its lifespan, 280 million Trinitron tubes were built. At its peak, 20 million were made annually.

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In this Dossier

Trinitron in the context of Sony

Sony Group Corporation, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including electronics (Sony Corporation), imaging and sensing (Sony Semiconductor Solutions), film (Sony Pictures Entertainment), music (Sony Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment Japan), video games (Sony Interactive Entertainment), and others.

Sony was founded in 1946 as initially Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita. In 1958, the company adopted the name Sony Corporation. Initially an electronics firm, it gained early recognition for products such as the TR-55 transistor radio and the CV-2000 home video tape recorder, contributing significantly to Japan's post-war economic recovery. After Ibuka's retirement in the 1970s, Morita served as chairman until 1994, overseeing Sony's rise as a global brand recognized for innovation in consumer electronics. Landmark products included the Trinitron color television, the Walkman portable audio player, and the co-development of the compact disc.

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Trinitron in the context of Shadow mask

The shadow mask is one of the two technologies used in the manufacture of cathode-ray tube (CRT) televisions and computer monitors which produce clear, focused color images. The other approach is the aperture grille, better known by its trade name, Trinitron. All early color televisions and the majority of CRT computer monitors used shadow mask technology. Both of these technologies are largely obsolete, having been increasingly replaced since the 1990s by the liquid-crystal display (LCD).

A shadow mask is a metal plate punched with tiny holes that separate the colored phosphors in the layer behind the front glass of the screen. Shadow masks are made by photochemical machining, a technique that allows for the drilling of small holes on metal sheets. Three electron guns at the back of the screen sweep across the mask, with the beams only reaching the screen if they pass through the holes. As the guns are physically separated at the back of the tube, their beams approach the mask from three slightly different angles, so after passing through the holes they hit slightly different locations on the screen.

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Trinitron in the context of 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. The first patented aperture grille televisions were manufactured under the Trinitron brand name.

Fine vertical wires behind the front glass of the display screen separate the different colors of phosphors into strips. These wires are positioned such that an electron beam from one of three guns at the rear of the tube is only able to strike phosphors of the appropriate color. That is, the blue electron gun will strike blue phosphors, but will find a wire blocks the path to red and green phosphors.

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