WEGA

For radio station licensed to Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, see WEGA (AM). For the Vienna SWAT team called WEGA, see Wiener Einsatzgruppe Alarmabteilung.

WEGA

Native name	Wuerttembergische Radio-Gesellschaft mbh
Industry	Electronics
Fate	Rebranded as BRAVIA
Successor	BRAVIA
Founded	Stuttgart, Germany (1923 (1923))
Defunct	2005 (2005)
Area served	International
Products	Radio and television sets
Parent	Sony (1975–2005)

WEGA /ˈveɪɡə/ was a pioneering German audio and video manufacturer, manufacturing some of Germany's earliest radio sets.

History

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. At this point, they were known throughout Europe for stylish and high-quality stereo equipment, designed by Hartmut Esslinger amongst others. Sony continued to use the WEGA brand until 2005, when LCD displays superseded the company's Trinitron aperture grille-based CRT models.

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.

Sony has also used WEGA as a name for flat-screen televisions with newer technologies than CRT. Their flat-panel LCD TVs were branded LCD WEGA until summer 2005 when they were rebranded BRAVIA (there are early promotional photos of the first BRAVIA TVs still bearing the WEGA label). Introduced in 2002, Sony's plasma televisions were also branded as Plasma WEGA until being superseded by the BRAVIA LCD line. Sony's rear-projection televisions, either SXRD (Silicon X-tal Reflective Display) or LCD-based, were branded as Grand WEGA until Sony discontinued production of rear-projection sets.

External links

• WEGA at radiomuseum.org
• WEGA gallery