Technology Innovators


The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

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Highlights
Elma Farnsworth on her husband Philo T. Farnsworth's achievements with electronic television
Les Flory on RCA's competition in television development
Sam Christaldi on Du Mont building television sets for the public
Robert Adler on how the development of the remote control came about for Zenith
John Silva on inventing the Telecopter (an airborne helicopter remote)
Tony Verna on getting the instant replay right
Who talked about this profession

Robert Adler

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Robert Adler on his management style as director of research at Zenith and becoming a vice president
Robert Adler on advice to aspiring television scientists and inventors

Garrett Brown

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Garrett Brown on inventing the Steadicam and the Arm
Garrett Brown on the final form of the Steadicam
Garrett Brown on how the Steadicam works
Garrett Brown on teaching Steadicam workshops
Garrett Brown on what it takes to be a successful Steadicam operator
Garrett Brown on inventing the Skycam, often used for sports on television
Garrett Brown on his process of invention
Garrett Brown on advice for aspiring inventors

Sam Christaldi

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Sam Christaldi on the job of an engineer

Ray Dolby

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Ray Dolby on his early contributions to the video tape recorder
Ray Dolby on creating a pulse FM system for modulating the signal going to video tape
Ray Dolby on his patents on the video tape recorder
Ray Dolby on the basics of his noise reduction system
Ray Dolby on the then-current (2007) state of sound on television
Ray Dolby on the then-future of sound on television

Elma Farnsworth

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Elma Farnsworth on the drawbacks to mechanical disc television and the obstacles Philo encountered when creating electronic television
Elma Farnsworth on the reaction of her and her husband, inventor Philo T. Farnsworth (and colleagues Cliff Gardner and Carl Christensen), on September 7, 1927 when he produced the first all-electronic TV picture (a simple straight line) with his Image Dissector tube

Les Flory

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Les Flory on the development of the television pick up tube in the 1930s
Les Flory on how much he was aware of the work of Philo T. Farnsworth, and differences between Farnsworth's system and RCA's
Les Flory on the differences between the early mechanical and electronic television systems
Les Flory on his involvement with the development of color television and the controversy over the CBS and RCA systems

Heino Ripp

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Heino Ripp on what a technical director does

John Silva

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John Silva on first learning about television and knowing he wanted to work in it
John Silva on his first job as a television station engineer
John Silva on becoming KTLA's director of engineering and research
John Silva on the main duties of a chief television engineer
John Silva on advice to aspiring television engineers

Tony Verna

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Tony Verna on the rise of DVR
About

"Both the head of engineering at UC Berkeley and Stanford, told him [Philo T. Farnsworth] that he was trying the impossible. And tried to discourage him from doing it. Well, in Phil’s mind, it was just cut and dried. There was no question in his mind that he could do it." - Elma Farnsworth, wife of Philo T. Farnsworth, Inventor of Electronic Television

This category consists of engineers and inventors involved in electronic broadcasting. Engineering is inclusive of several job categories and functions including, but not limited to design, systems integration, signal distribution, transmission, maintenance, and management of production and technical facilities that are actively engaged in the production of content. 

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