Sarnoff Corporation
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Research and development |
| Predecessor | RCA Laboratories |
| Founded | 1941 |
| Fate | Merged into SRI International on January 3, 2011 |
| Headquarters | West Windsor Township , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Innovations in vision, video, and semiconductor technologies |
Number of employees | 540 (2006) |
| Parent | SRI International |
Sarnoff Corporation was an R&D firm focused on innovations in vision, video, and semiconductor technologies. Bearing the name of David Sarnoff, the prominent figure behind RCA and NBC, the company was based in West Windsor Township, New Jersey with a mailing address in Princeton, New Jersey.
Established in 1941 as the David Sarnoff Research Center near Princeton, the facility was instrumental in pioneering breakthroughs such as color television, CMOS integrated circuit development, and advances in electron microscopy. For 47 years, it operated under RCA as RCA Laboratories and briefly under GE before transitioning to Sarnoff Corporation in 1988 as a fully owned subsidiary of SRI International.
On January 3, 2011, Sarnoff Corporation was integrated into its parent organization, SRI International, where research and development continued at the Princeton site. Despite its location, Sarnoff has never been formally connected to Princeton University.
Science and technology
The IEEE History Center Milestone Program has honored two significant technological achievements originating from RCA Laboratories: the creation of Monochrome-Compatible Electronic Color Television between 1946 and 1953, and the invention of the Liquid Crystal Display in 1968.
Beginning in the 1940s, RCA Laboratories made important advancements in thin-film technology, which played a vital role in enhancing television camera photoemissive surfaces and later became essential for semiconductor manufacturing processes, thereby driving progress in solid-state electronics.
In the mid-1950s, RCA scientist Herbert Kroemer, who later received a Nobel Prize, developed foundational theories on heterostructure physics that underpin today’s semiconductor devices.
Additional significant innovations from the center include contributions to the development of the electron microscope, photon-counting photomultiplier tubes, CCD image sensors, CMOS integrated circuits, as well as early optoelectronic devices such as lasers and LEDs—solidifying RCA’s position at the forefront of advanced electronic component research.
Corporate history
While long known as the David Sarnoff Research Center, Sarnoff Corporation emerged as an independent entity only after RCA was acquired by General Electric (GE) in the late 1980s. This acquisition followed RCA’s expensive failure with capacitive-pickup videodisc technology—SelectaVision—which lost ground to videocassette recorders, leading to financial difficulties that precipitated GE’s takeover.
Following GE’s acquisition, RCA was dismantled: NBC was absorbed by GE; Lockheed Martin purchased RCA’s government systems division; Harris Corporation took over semiconductor operations; and Thomson SA of France acquired the consumer electronics segment along with manufacturing facilities in Indianapolis and Lancaster. GE showed limited interest in expanding operations at the Princeton-based David Sarnoff Research Center.
An antitrust consent decree had obligated RCA to license consumer electronics patents domestically at low fees while generating revenue through international licensing. The Sarnoff Research Center supported these licensing efforts, which GE aimed to sustain after acquisition due to their considerable income potential.
To oversee this arrangement, GE partnered with non-profit SRI International, which received ownership of the David Sarnoff Research Center by donation in 1986 along with operational funding. Revenues from licensing RCA television patents exceeded operational expenses, enabling Sarnoff to maintain profitability. A contractual condition required that if unprofitable after five years, ownership of its valuable land would revert to GE; however, profitability was attained by approximately 1995.
During the early 2000s recession and a decline in venture capital availability, workforce reductions occurred—shrinking employee numbers from 800 in 2001 to 540 by 2006. On January 3, 2011, Sarnoff Corporation merged into SRI International, concluding its independent existence.
Library
Between 1967 and 2010, the David Sarnoff Research Center was home to the David Sarnoff Library, which was founded by RCA to honor the legacy of its founder and longtime executive, David Sarnoff. The library showcased exhibits that celebrated RCA's groundbreaking advancements in electronic and broadcast technology, particularly in radio and television. Overseen by a nonprofit board operating under 501(c)(3) status, the library represented RCA's significant historical business milestones. In response to evolving corporate priorities in 2009, the board resolved to relocate the majority of exhibits to The College of New Jersey, while archival materials were transferred to the Hagley Museum and Library located in Wilmington, Delaware. Other artifacts found new homes at organizations such as the InfoAge Science/History Learning Center, the Camden County Historical Society, and the New Jersey State Museum, thereby safeguarding RCA’s technological and industrial heritage.