Gallery: As Sony's TV Business Crumbles, a Look Back at Its Most Iconic Sets

  • Image may contain Advertisement Poster Human Person Paper Brochure Flyer Vehicle Transportation Automobile and Car
    Photo: Sony
    01

    sony-portable-tv-1

    The TV8-301 cost an insane $249.95 (that's about $1,942 in today's dollars), weighed a little over 13 pounds, and had a nasty habit of malfunctioning.
  • Image may contain Screen Display Electronics Monitor Television TV Human Person and Camera
    Photo: Sony
    02

    ad-micro-tv

    The $230 black-and-white TV5-303 "micro TV" was marketed as the perfect set for your car. Controls were moved to the right front side of the set "for easy one-handed operation" while driving.
  • Image may contain Screen Display Electronics Monitor Television TV Oven Microwave and Appliance
    Photo: Sony
    03

    1968-KV-1310

    Released in Japan in 1968, the KV-1310 was the first of Sony's venerable line of Trinitron color TVs.
  • Image may contain Display Screen Electronics Monitor Television and TV
    Photo: Sony
    04

    1977-KV-1375

    The KV-1375 was nicknamed the "Citation" after a line of Cessna Jets (which in turn was named after the famous thoroughbred race horse). Indeed, its design was partly inspired by imagining a monitor one might find inside a cockpit.
  • Image may contain Electronics Camera Digital Camera Cell Phone Mobile Phone and Phone
    Photo: Wikimedia Commons
    05

    Sony-watchman

    As the first in a long line of pocket televisions, the 3.4 x 8 x 1.3-inch FD-210 launched in Japan in 1982 and eventually made its way to the U.S. and Europe two years later.
  • Image may contain Indoors Interior Design Human Person John Kerry Screen Electronics Monitor Display and City
    Photo: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters/Corbis
    06

    George W. Bush - John Kerry 1st Debate

    The first Jumbotron--developed by the same engineer responsible for the Betamax videocassette recorder, Yuji Watanabe--debuted at the 1985 World's Fair.
  • Image may contain Screen Electronics Monitor Display Television TV and Lcd Screen
    Photo: Sony
    07

    73-01'

    The first in Sony's line of FD Trinitron WEGA TVs, the KW-32HDF9 had a completely flat screen with side-mounted speakers.
  • Image may contain Screen Electronics Monitor Display Lcd Screen Pc and Computer
    Photo: Sony
    08

    2007-XEL-1

    Released in 2008, the 11-inch XEL-1 was the world's first commercial OLED television.
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