 Sony WEGA logo, 2004 | |
Native name | Wuerttembergische Radio-Gesellschaft mbh |
|---|---|
| Industry | Electronics |
| Founded | 1923 Stuttgart, Germany |
| Defunct | 2005 |
| Fate | Rebranded as BRAVIA |
| Successor | Sony BRAVIA |
Area served | International |
| Products | Radio and LED television receivers |
| Parent | Sony (1975–2005) |
WEGA was a German audio and video manufacturer, manufacturing some of Germany's earliest radio receivers.[2]
WEGA, pronounced "Vega", was founded as Wuerttembergische Radio-Gesellschaft mbh in Stuttgart, Germany in the year 1923. In 1975, it was acquired by Sony Corporation.[2] They were then known throughout Europe for stylish and high-quality stereo equipment, designed by Verner Panton[3] and Hartmut Esslinger.[4] Sony continued to use the WEGA brand until 2005, when liquid-crystal displays superseded the company's Trinitron aperture grille-based CRT models.[5]
Starting in 1998, Sony released a television line called FD Trinitron/WEGA, a flat-screen television with side-mounted speakers and a silver-coloured cabinet.
Sony says that the FD Trinitron WEGA was named after a star ("Vega" in English) in the Lyra constellation, and made no reference to the original WEGA firm.[6]
Sony has also used WEGA as a name for flat-screen televisions with newer technologies than CRT. Their flat-panel LCD televisions were branded LCD WEGA until summer 2005[7][8][9] when they were rebranded BRAVIA. There are early promotional photos of the first BRAVIA televisions still bearing the WEGA label.[citation needed] Introduced in 2002, Sony's plasma display televisions were also branded as Plasma WEGA until being superseded by the BRAVIA LCD line. Sony's rear-projection televisions, either Silicon X-tal Reflective Display (SXRD) or LCD-based, were branded as Grand WEGA until Sony discontinued production of rear-projection receivers.[citation needed]
The quality of the design by Esslinger was highly appreciated, to the extent that the Museum of Modern Art in New York[10] exhibits one example, the Concept 51k sound-system, for which a special stand was an available option.[11]
In 1980 Sony used half of the production in Stuttgart for its Trinitron televisions.[12][13]
