The Sony Corporation, a global powerhouse in the entertainment electronics industry, has become a household name when it comes to television. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, this company is a leading researcher, developer, and manufacturer of semiconductors, electronics, communication products, videos and video games, and information technology for the consumer and professional developer industries. The multinational company is employer to 158,500 people, and it reported consolidated annual sales revenue of $67 billion in 2005. After the development of the worlds most successful transistor radio, the manufacture of the TV became the benchmark of quality TV sets. Lets follow traverse from transistors to liquid crystal.
In 1955, Sony, then known as the Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation, introduced the TR 55 to the world. Small enough to fit in a coat pocket, their first transistor radio became the model for future portable music machines that American teenagers would use to listen to the growing phenomenon of American rock and roll.
From transistors, they began its venture into liquid crystal in the 1960s. The company received a patent for the invention of the aperture grille cathode ray tube TV in 1963. In aperture grille technology, very thin vertical wires behind the glass of the televisions display screen are used to separate different colors of phosphors into strips. For nearly thirty decades quite a long time when speaking of technology aperture grille technology provided consumers and TV manufacturers with the best screen image. This milestone in the Television dynasty was branded the Trinitron.
When it came to picture and product quality, their television was long seen as a benchmark. The patented aperture grille design produced bright colors, high contrast, and balanced focus that stood out from other available products. Aperture grille design was also easier to manufacture than TV tube products, bringing about a change in the TV production process. These factors combined to make the brand top of the products.
Since patent for the aperture grille technology expired in the 1990s, a number of other producers of televisions, such as Samsung and Mitsubishi, have incorporated the Trinitron technology into their own products. Additionally, their branded computer monitors, are a widely distributed item. Most of the major computer makers, including Apple Computer, Dell, DEC, Gateway, IBM, and Sun Microsystems, feature the logo in the upper left hand corner.
Like any strong technology competitor, the company moved on as the new era ended with the introduction of gas plasma and liquid crystal display monitors and televisions. After thirty decades of CRT dominance, the LCD and gas plasma technology are thought to have better picture quality. To keep up with the times, company created a flat screen version of the picture tube in the 1990s. The design, a new flat picture tube called FDTrinitron, is described on their website as delivering incredible imagine accuracy, wide viewing angles, outstanding contrast, and corner to corner detail. Now, Sony now also produces high definition digital TV with the patented Live Color Creation backlight system. This along with their surround sound systems provide todays consumers with the latest in high technology home theaters.
Companys progression from transistor radios to liquid crystal models the way successful companies operate: incubate a new idea, develop and patent it, license it to other manufacturers, and then start the cycle again. The Trinitron brand, with cathode ray tube technology and the latest flat tube allow the company to remain a benchmark in the home television industry. Its LCD flat screen televisions, along with its entire home entertainment line, are sure to continue pleasing consumers long into the future.
http://www.articleco.com/Article/From-Transistors-to-Liquid-Crystal-Milestones-in-Sony-Televisions/44288
