WEGA
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WEGA was a German audio and video manufacturer that manufactured some of Germany's earliest radio receivers.<ref name="r-museum">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
History
WEGA, pronounced "Vega", was founded as Wuerttembergische Radio-Gesellschaft mbh in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1923. In 1975, it was acquired by Sony Corporation.<ref name="r-museum" /> They were then known throughout Europe for stylish and high-quality stereo equipment, designed by Verner Panton<ref name="design-fine-196971">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Hartmut Esslinger.<ref name="europa-2018">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sony continued to use the WEGA brand until 2005, when liquid-crystal displays superseded the company's Trinitron aperture grille-based CRT models.<ref name="areadvd-050003">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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.<ref name="homethea-223971">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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<ref name="cnet-191019">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="whathifi-2610">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> when they were rebranded BRAVIA. There are early promotional photos of the first BRAVIA televisions that still bear the WEGA label.Template:Citation needed Introduced in 2002, Sony's plasma display televisions were also branded as Plasma WEGA until the BRAVIA LCD line superseded it. 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.Template:Citation needed
Importance
The quality of the design by Esslinger was highly appreciated, to the extent that the Museum of Modern Art in New York<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> exhibits one example, the Concept 51k sound system, for which a special stand was an available option.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1980, Sony used half of the production in Stuttgart for its Trinitron televisions.<ref name="SPON-000014317091">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="audiokar-091822">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
