FD Trinitron/WEGA

For more than half a century since the first commercial home cathode ray tube (CRT) television set made by Telefunken, the tubes had a bubble-like curve as a fundamental part of its design. Sony's own Trinitron had a unique cylindrical aperture grille that made it vertically flat but horizontally was still curved. In the 1980s, industry players looked for ways to flatten the curves and sharpen the corners for the purpose of reducing glare and distortion-free usage. Toshiba introduced the Flat Square Tube technology in 1983 that squared off round corners and significantly flattened the face. The first perfectly flat CRT display was released in 1987 by Zenith Electronics, based on technology invented and patented by them called Flat Tension Mask, structurally superior to all previous CRTs. It molded a fine alloy mask into the monitor glass under tension. However, very high manufacturing costs meant that this was solely a high-end computer monitor rather than larger sized TV sets and Zenith itself almost collapsed. Panasonic introduced significantly flatter TVs and with distinguished phosphors in Japan in 1990 and a year later in North America under the names GAOO and SuperFlat Prism. Sony responded in 1991 with the Super Trinitron.

On November 13, 1996, Sony announced the Super Flat Trinitron (KV-28SF5), the first fully mathematically flat CRT TV, released as a pioneering proof of concept. They then developed it further with vast improvements, including a computer-controlled feedback system and upscaling technology into what then became known as FD Trinitron, with the preceding letters standing for Flat and Display. Sony officially released the new FD Trinitron television sets as a mass-produced series, marketed under the WEGA brand, in Japan starting from June 5, 1997. All of these were 16:9 ratio widescreens and the most expensive flagship model released was high definition (MUSE). Not long after, 4:3 ratio models were also introduced.

The Sony WEGA with its FD Trinitron panels were announced for global release and distribution in January 1998. Initially introduced as 32 and 36 inch models, 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 along with high resolution versions; Hi-Scan and Super Fine Pitch. With the introduction of the WEGA series, Sony also introduced a new industrial style, leaving the charcoal-colored sets introduced in the 1980s for a new silver styling.

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 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 electron gun with a greater focal length for corner focus, and an improved deflection yoke for color convergence.

A key feature on some models was Digital Reality Creation (DRC), a proprietary digital upscaler that would turn a standard definition signal into a near high definition one (1050 vertical lines by 1440 horizontal lines). Newer versions of DRC were released over time. From 2002, some Trinitron models came with a newer system called WEGA Engine.

Initially FD Trinitron sets were noticeably heavier than other TVs of the same size because of extra glass added in the cabinet to support the tube.

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 with their Diamondtron NF brand of flat aperture grille CRT displays, as used in certain computer monitors from Mitsubishi, NEC, and Apple. There were four primary variants of the FD Trinitron as used in televisions.

16:9 Enhanced WEGA models differ from original WEGA models mainly in their ability to display anamorphic video content in its proper screen aspect ratio.

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 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.

Sony marketed the product at launch as a revolutionary TV product. It achieved high initial sales in Japan and a good reception elsewhere. Before the FD Trinitron, manufacturers were unable to create a sufficiently strong design for supporting a flat screen on a large tube. By 1999 and 2000, numerous other manufacturers had introduced flatscreen CRTs such as the Panasonic Tau series, LG Flatron (using the Zenith-made acquired patent), Toshiba AF/Cinema and Philips RealFlat. Manufacturing costs quickly dropped and flat-surface CRTs had largely replaced curved displays some time later across the industry, holding on only in the small-screen ultra budget space.

Sony would go on to receive an Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2001 for its development of flat screen CRT technology.

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 technology, the impact of which was quickly felt by Sony after the introduction of Sharp Aquos, 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 plant. Worldwide production ended when Singapore and Malaysia ceased production in end of March 2008. The FD Trinitron series is one of the most sought after televisions among hobbyists of retrogaming.

Listed in descending order according to size, release date, and product line.