"The Farnsworth [electronic television] system was you might say a real time system, while the system that we were using involves storage. The energy was stored from frame to frame so that it could operate with less light."

    About This Interview

    In his 75-minute interview, Les Flory (1907-2002) describes his time as a television engineer in the RCA laboratories in Camden and Princeton, NJ. Flory talks of joining the RCA team straight out of college, and discusses his work on early television pickup tubes. He recalls working for RCA pioneers Vladimir Zworykin and David Sarnoff, talks of RCA's competitors, including Philo T. Farnsworth and John Logie Baird, and outlines the major differences between the mechanical and electrical television systems. Flory recounts technological advancements made during World War II, discusses the differences between the RCA and CBS color television systems, and shares how applications designed for television broadcasting have been used in other fields (medicine, space exploration, etc.). B-roll consists of photos from the RCA laboratories and demonstrations of iconoscopes that Flory helped develop. Fred Olesi conducted the interview on April 18, 1997 in Princeton, NJ. 

    All views expressed by interviewees are theirs alone and not necessarily those of the Television Academy.
    People Talking About ...
    Thumbnail of Les Flory

    Les Flory on meeting and working with Vladimir Zworykin at RCA

    01:03
    Thumbnail of Les Flory

    Les Flory on the development of the television pick up tube in the 1930s

    02:09
    Thumbnail of Les Flory

    Les Flory on the differences between the early mechanical and electronic television systems

    02:22
    Thumbnail of Les Flory

    Les Flory on his involvement with the development of color television and the controversy over the CBS and RCA systems

    05:43
    Thumbnail of Les Flory

    Les Flory on the student engineering course at RCA and his placement in the television research lab

    02:11
    Play Full Interview

    Chapter 1

    On his childhood and early influences; on his early interest in radio and getting a job at RCA after college

    06:01

    On his early days at RCA and the difficulty of creating a camera tube; on meeting and working with Vladimir Zworykin; on the goals of the lab

    07:16

    On RCA competitors - Farnsworth, Baird, and DuMont; on the relationship between Vladimir Zworykin and David Sarnoff at RCA

    07:49

    On preparing for broadcast television and the 1939 World's Fair

    03:32

    Chapter 2

    On the differences between the early mechanical and electronic television systems; on early transmissions from RCA

    03:49

    On patent disputes between RCA and Philo T. Farnsworth; on commercial television coming to a halt when World War II started; on technological advances made during the war

    05:12

    On his work after the war and his involvement with the development of color television; on the controversy over the CBS and RCA color systems

    06:31

    On his post-World War II projects at RCA; on what he's proudest of in his career

    02:51

    On his thoughts on some of the people with whom he's worked

    08:34

    Chapter 3

    B-roll photos from his career: at the RCA labs in Camden and Princeton, New Jersey; of iconoscopes he helped create

    16:16

    1939-40 World's Fair

    Les Flory on preparing for broadcast television and the 1939 World's Fair

    03:28

    Historic Events and Social Change

    Les Flory on preparing for broadcast television and the 1939 World's Fair

    03:28

    Les Flory on commercial television coming to a halt when World War II started and the development of new technologies during the war years

    03:12

    Technological Innovation

    Les Flory on the development of the television pick up tube in the 1930s

    02:09

    Les Flory on how much he was aware of the work of Philo T. Farnsworth, and differences between Farnsworth's system and RCA's

    01:59

    Les Flory on the differences between the early mechanical and electronic television systems

    02:22

    Les Flory on his involvement with the development of color television and the controversy over the CBS and RCA systems

    05:43

    Les Flory on a 1956 photo of a backpack television transmitter (made for the 1956 political conventions)

    01:25

    Les Flory on a photo of image orthicon tubes

    03:18

    War

    Les Flory on commercial television coming to a halt when World War II started and the development of new technologies during the war years

    03:12

    World War II

    Les Flory on commercial television coming to a halt when World War II started and the development of new technologies during the war years

    03:12

    Engineer

    Les Flory on the development of the television pick up tube in the 1930s

    02:09

    Les Flory on how much he was aware of the work of Philo T. Farnsworth, and differences between Farnsworth's system and RCA's

    01:59

    Les Flory on the differences between the early mechanical and electronic television systems

    02:22

    Les Flory on his involvement with the development of color television and the controversy over the CBS and RCA systems

    05:43

    Technology Innovators

    Les Flory on the development of the television pick up tube in the 1930s

    02:09

    Les Flory on how much he was aware of the work of Philo T. Farnsworth, and differences between Farnsworth's system and RCA's

    01:59

    Les Flory on the differences between the early mechanical and electronic television systems

    02:22

    Les Flory on his involvement with the development of color television and the controversy over the CBS and RCA systems

    05:43

    Allen B. DuMont

    Les Flory on his thoughts on some of the people with whom he's worked - Allen B. DuMont

    00:19

    Philo T. Farnsworth

    Les Flory on RCA's competition in television development - Philo T. Farnsworth

    01:01

    Les Flory on how much he was aware of the work of Philo T. Farnsworth, and differences between Farnsworth's system and RCA's

    01:59

    Les Flory on patent disputes between RCA and Philo T. Farnsworth

    00:53

    David Sarnoff

    Les Flory on the relationship between Vladimir Zworykin and David Sarnoff at RCA

    02:17

    Les Flory on David Sarnoff's involvement with the RCA lab after World War II

    00:29

    Vladimir Zworykin

    Les Flory on meeting and working with Vladimir Zworykin at RCA

    01:03

    Les Flory on working with Vladimir Zworykin and colleagues at RCA

    01:29

    Les Flory on the relationship between Vladimir Zworykin and David Sarnoff at RCA

    02:17

    Les Flory on his thoughts on some of the people with whom he's worked - Vladimir Zworykin

    00:55

    Les Flory on a 1932 photo of him with Vladimir Zworykin and an experimental iconoscope

    00:39

    Les Flory on a 1933 photo of Vladimir Zworykin taken off a television receiver

    00:51

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