Editing Trinitron (section)

===End of Trinitron===
[[Image:Sony KV-32S42 b.jpg|thumb|Sony KV-32S42, a typical late-model Trinitron television, manufactured in 2001]]
[[Image:Sony FD Triniton KV-BZ213N50.jpg|thumb|Sony FD Trinitron flat-screen CRT]]
[[File:Sony Trinitron KV-27FS100.jpg|thumb|Sony Trinitron KV-27FS100, example of an FD Trinitron model with a more boxy appearance]]
Sony's patent on the Trinitron display ran out in 1996, after 20 years. After the expiration of Sony's Trinitron patent, manufacturers like [[Mitsubishi Electric|Mitsubishi]] (whose monitor production is now part of [[NEC Display Solutions]]) were free to use the Trinitron design for their own product line without license from Sony although they could not use the Trinitron name. For example, Mitsubishi's are called ''Diamondtron''. To some degree, the name Trinitron became a generic term referring to any similar set.

Sony responded with the [[FD Trinitron]], which used computer-controlled feedback systems to ensure sharp focus across a flat screen. Initially introduced on their 27, 32 and 36&nbsp;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 [[Display aspect ratio|aspect ratio]]s. The technology was quickly applied to the entire Trinitron range, from 13 to 36&nbsp;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.

Sony was not the only company producing flat screen CRTs. Other companies had already introduced high-end brands with flat-screen tubes, like Panasonic's Tau. Many other companies entered the market quickly, widely copying the new silver styling as well. The FD Trinitron was unable to regain the cachet that the Trinitron brand had previously possessed; in the 2004 Christmas season, they increased sales by 5%, but only at the cost of a 75% plunge in profits after being forced to lower costs to compete in the market.<ref>{{cite news |last1=James |first1=James |last2=Hansell |first2=Saul |title=Samsung Is Now What Sony Once Was |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/10/business/worldbusiness/samsung-is-now-what-sony-once-was.html |work=The New York Times |date=10 March 2005 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527004739/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/10/business/worldbusiness/samsung-is-now-what-sony-once-was.html |archive-date=2018-05-27}}</ref>

At the same time, the introduction of plasma televisions, and then LCD-based ones, led to the high-end market being increasingly focused on the "thin" sets. Both of these technologies have well known problems, and for some time Sony explored a wide array of technologies that would improve upon them in the same way the Trinitron did on the shadow mask. Among these experiments were [[organic light-emitting diode]]s (OLED) and the [[field-emission display]], but in spite of considerable effort, neither of these technologies matured into competitors at the time. Sony also introduced their Plasmatron displays, and later LCD as well, but these had no inherent technical advantages over similar sets from other companies. From 2006, all of Sony's BRAVIA television products are LCD displays, initially based on screens from [[Samsung]], and later [[Sharp Corporation|Sharp]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Shu-Ching |first1=Jean Chen |title=Sony Jilts Samsung For Sharp In LCD Panel Production |url=https://www.forbes.com/2008/02/26/sony-sharp-lcd-markets-equity-cx_jc_0226markets08.html |work=Forbes |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233240/https://www.forbes.com/2008/02/26/sony-sharp-lcd-markets-equity-cx_jc_0226markets08.html |archive-date=2016-03-03 |date=26 February 2006}}</ref>

Sony eventually ended production of the Trinitron in Japan in 2004. In 2006, Sony announced that it would no longer market or sell Trinitrons in the United States or Canada, but it would continue to sell the Trinitron in China, India, and regions of South America using tubes delivered from their [[Singapore]] plant. Production in Singapore finally ended by the end of March 2008, only months after ending production of their rear-projection systems.<ref name=wallst/>  Two lines of the factory were later brought back online to supply the professional market.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

280 million Trinitron tubes were built. At its peak, 20 million were made annually.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100706220929/http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/semiconductors/devices/sony_pulls_plug_on_historic_tr spectrum.ieee.org, 5 March 2008, "Sony Pulls Plug on Historic Trinitron TV"], retrieved 9 June 2020.</ref>