Photo: Suzanne Kantak256-bit magnetic core memory, circa 1952: Slow data retrieval and storage speeds limited the utility of early computers. RCA researcher Jan Rajchman’s solution was a memory array consisting of a wire matrix with doughnut-shaped magnetic cores at each intersection. By applying a current to a given set of horizontal and vertical wires, you could select a specific core and quickly change the direction of its magnetic field. ▲
Photo: Suzanne KantakDavid Sarnoff’s garrison cap, RCA employee ID badge, military decorations, appointment orders: Neither a scientist nor an inventor, RCA chairman David Sarnoff nevertheless oversaw the development of the technologies that came to define the information age. Under his leadership, RCA organized the first radio broadcasting network, perfected black-and-white and color television, and established a research center in Princeton, N.J., that made crucial contributions to digital computing, integrated circuitry, and flat-panel displays.
Born in what is now Belarus in 1891, Sarnoff was a fervent patriot of his adopted country. Upon hearing of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he sent a telegram to the White House: “All our facilities are ready and at your instant service. We await your commands.”
RCA scientists and engineers went on to make major advances in military radar and sonar, as well as mobile broadcasting equipment. Dwight D. Eisenhower recruited Sarnoff to coordinate all radio traffic for the D-Day invasion of Normandy in June 1944. In December of that year, Sarnoff was made a brigadier general, as indicated by the sterling silver star on his garrison cap. From then on, he would be known as “General Sarnoff” or “The General.”
Photo: Suzanne KantakTelegraph key (c. 1912): Even as a young man, David Sarnoff capitalized on every opportunity. A skilled telegraph operator, he was assigned in 1912 to manage Marconi’s Wireless Telegraph Co.’s station at the Wanamaker department store in New York City. On the evening of 14 April 1912, the grand ocean liner RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and began transmitting distress signals. Sarnoff came on duty soon after and stayed at his post for three straight days, using this telegraph key to contact rescue ships and compile the names of survivors. He later referred to the incident as a turning point in his career, noting that “the Titanic disaster brought radio to the front, and incidentally me.” ▲
Photo: Suzanne KantakRadiola No. 26 (c. 1925):Edwin Armstrong’s ingenious superheterodyne circuit, which he developed as a member of the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War I, made it easier for radios to detect and amplify high-frequency signals; it’s still used today in radio and television tuners. After the war, RCA licensed the technology from Armstrong and used the superheterodyne in its popular Radiola series of receivers, sold in the 1920s and early ’30s. ▲
Photo: Suzanne KantakTV Console Model 641 (c. 1947): The U.S. government banned commercial television production during World War II, but RCA took advantage of this hiatus to improve its TV assembly lines and reduce costs. In 1946 RCA introduced its first mass-market black-and-white set, the RCA 630-TS, which sold for $375. The following year, the company released a console version of the same set, the RCA-641, combining AM, FM, and shortwave radios, a phonograph, and a television—a precursor of today’s home entertainment system. RCA sold 8000 of these “Five-in-One” consoles at a market price of $795. ▲
Photo: Suzanne KantakFirst color TV set, CT-100 (1954): In the 1950s, RCA vied with the Columbia Broadcasting System to introduce a color TV system. CBS’s offering had a superior picture but wasn’t compatible with monochrome sets. So RCA refined its system, and in December 1953 the Federal Communications Commission endorsed its compatible color standard. RCA’s first color TV, the CT-100 sold for US $995—five times the price of a black-and-white set. ▲
Photo: Suzanne KantakRCA repairman’s case (c. 1960): Although the transistor was invented in 1947 and RCA debuted its transistorized TV prototype five years later, vacuum tubes remained at the heart of most consumer electronics until well into the 1960s. RCA repairmen often carried kits filled with replacement vacuum tubes to fix broken radio and television sets. ▲
Photo: Suzanne KantakTransistor TV prototype (1952): In November 1952, RCA demonstrated the world’s first transistorized television. Developed by George Sziklai, Robert Lohman, and Gerald Herzog, this 5-inch set contained 37 transistors, weighed 12 kilograms, and had only one channel. A rabbit-ear antenna offered decent reception up to 24 kilometers. ▲
Photo: Suzanne KantakRCA Victor 45-rpm record player (c. 1950): Before World War II, records were made of a shellac-based mixture, which could withstand the pressure of a steel phonograph needle while spinning at 78 revolutions per minute (rpm) but generated a lot of background noise during playback. The introduction of vinyl resins greatly reduced this audio interference and allowed for smaller discs with more grooves. RCA Victor engineer Benjamin Carson took advantage of vinyl’s improved properties to develop the 45-rpm system. Released to the public in 1949, RCA’s new records held only 5 minutes of music per side, but the company also sold phonographs with a built-in changing mechanism, allowing a stack of 45s to be played consecutively with only a minimal delay between discs. ▲
Photo: Suzanne KantakPrototype propaganda phonograph and Cold War memorandum (1955): During the Cold War, David Sarnoff devised a new weapon: a hand-powered plastic phonograph intended to be air-dropped behind the Iron Curtain, along with records made of cardboard. Not only would this device cost less to manufacture than a radio, but its prodemocracy messages would be impossible for enemies to jam. Sarnoff floated the idea to President Eisenhower, and the United States Information Agency expressed an interest, but it was never produced in significant numbers. ▲
Photo: Suzanne KantakIconoscope II (1930): RCA researcher Vladimir Zworykinsubmitted a patent application for an electronic video camera in 1923, but it would take him a decade to actually produce one. The resulting device, the iconoscope, projected light onto a target known as the mosaic, which created an electronic version of the image. When the mosaic was scanned with an electron beam, this image was discharged, producing a video signal. Early iconoscopes were two-sided, with light shining in on one side and the electron beam scanning the other. Eventually, Zworykin and his team were able to produce a single-sided iconoscope like the one shown here. ▲
Photo: Suzanne KantakMiniature image orthicon tube (late 1940s): During World War II, RCA's work on a television-guided bomb culminated in the image orthicon, a camera hundreds of times as sensitive as existing products. A miniaturized version was mounted in the nosecone of an experimental missile but never used in combat. The “immy” later became the standard camera in TV broadcasting and the namesake of the Emmy Award. ▲
Photo: Suzanne KantakAutographed model of Apollo 15 camera (1971): During the 1960s, RCA continued to develop smaller, lighter-weight color TV equipment. Among the beneficiaries of this work was NASA, which mounted an RCA camera on the lunar rover used during the Apollo 15 mission. The camera could be operated remotely by mission control personnel in Houston. NASA was so pleased with the system’s performance that it asked RCA to supply cameras for the Apollo 16 and 17 missions. The model shown here was signed by the Apollo 15 crew and presented to RCA chairman and CEO Robert Sarnoff; the original camera remains on the moon. ▲
Photo: Suzanne KantakGallium arsenide ingot (1950s) and gallium nitride blue light-emitting diode (1972): Beginning in the 1950s, RCA researchers experimented with silicon alternatives, including gallium arsenide, an ingot of which is shown above and which became the basis of some of the earliest light-emitting diodes. Later, in 1972, RCA scientists Herbert Maruska and Jacques Pankove used gallium nitride to create a blue-violet LED [pdf], which their boss, James Tietjen, hoped could be used in a flat-panel display. Although the blue LED project was canceled in 1974, LEDs prepared in a similar fashion have since found a place in lightbulbs, televisions, and high-definition DVD systems. ▲
Photo: Suzanne KantakModel EMB-4 electron microscope (c. 1942): RCA television expert Vladimir Zworykin’s interest in the ability of electromagnetic fields to alter the trajectory of charged particles led him to work on a new type of microscope, a machine that used electron beams to scan samples at a much higher resolution than traditional optical instruments could. In 1940, James Hillier, a physicist in Zworykin’s lab, had demonstrated the Model B, one of the world’s first commercial electron microscopes. Electron microscopy would transform how scientists examine otherwise invisible specimens and bolstered the company’s reputation for technical achievement. ▲
Photo: Suzanne KantakOptel LCD watches (c. 1971): Although RCA scientists and engineers made the first key breakthroughs in liquid-crystal displays, they failed to commercialize the technology [see “How RCA Lost the LCD,"IEEE Spectrum, November 2012]. But several members of the company’s liquid crystal research group eventually left to set up their own LCD companies. One such firm, Optel Corp., would create the first wristwatches with dynamic scattering displays. ▲
Photo: Suzanne KantakModel 00 personal computer (1972) and COSMAC Microtutor (1976): After David Sarnoff stepped down as RCA chairman in 1970, his son Robert launched an ambitious campaign to challenge IBM in the realm of computing. The move backfired, and the following year RCA sold off its computer division, taking a US $490 million write-off, the largest in U.S. history up to that point. Among the few insiders who still saw a future for RCA in computing was Joseph Weisbecker, who thought the company should target home users. To demonstrate the feasibility of this idea, he developed the Model 00 [bottom], a $975 computer that could run simple games when connected to a TV set. For those on a tighter budget, there was the $350 Microtutor, which used a new CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) microprocessor and could be programmed using a row of eight toggle switches. ▲
Photo: Suzanne KantakSFT-100 VideoDisc player (1981) and VideoDiscs: RCA spent more than a decade and $200 million developing a home video player, which, much like a phonograph, used a stylus to play prerecorded vinyl discs. Released in 1981, the product bombed with U.S. consumers, who preferred videocassettes that let them both play and record programs. The VideoDisc was RCA’s last major commercial venture. In 1986, General Electric bought RCA for $6.3 billion. ▲
The history of the Radio Corporation of America is in many ways the history of 20th-century American innovation. From the company’s founding in 1919 to its sale in 1986, the RCA name was synonymous with products that shaped how Americans lived and worked. Long before the rise of Silicon Valley, RCA Laboratories, in Princeton, N.J., was at the center of the nation’s consumer electronics industry, harnessing the creative impulses of thousands of scientists, engineers, and technicians to systematize the invention of new technologies.
In October, a new exhibition highlighting RCA’s rich history opens at the College of New Jersey, in Ewing. It draws from the more than 6000 artifacts that the college inherited after the David Sarnoff Library—RCA’s main technical archive and museum—closed in 2009. (The IEEE Foundation funded a new study center connected to the exhibition.) The installation covers the development of radio, television, and broadcasting, as well as RCA’s work in liquid-crystal displays, electron microscopy, solid-state physics, and computers.
Benjamin Gross is a research fellow at the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia. His Ph.D. dissertation at Princeton University looked at the development of the first liquid crystal displays at RCA.
IEEE Spectrum is the flagship publication of the IEEE — the world’s largest professional organization devoted to engineering and applied sciences. Our articles, podcasts, and infographics inform our readers about developments in technology, engineering, and science.
IEEE Spectrum is the flagship publication of the IEEE — the world’s largest professional organization devoted to engineering and applied sciences. Our articles, podcasts, and infographics inform our readers about developments in technology, engineering, and science.
