Editing RCA (section)

==Diversification==
[[File:Sarnoff RCA videotape recorder 1954.jpg|thumb|David Sarnoff with the first RCA videotape recorder, 1954]]
[[File:RCA Video-Aufzeichnungsgerät.jpg|thumb|RCA Television Quad head 2-inch color recorder-reproducer used at broadcast studios from the late-1960s to the early 1980s<ref>Based on a design originally developed by [[Ampex]] in the mid-1950s, it used a vertical scanning drum with head motion at approximately 90° to tape direction. This [[Quadruplex videotape|method]] was developed prior to [[helical scan]]ning, used in commercial and home tape machines.</ref>]]
In 1941, shortly before the United States entered World War II, the cornerstone was laid for a research and development facility in [[Princeton, New Jersey]] called RCA Laboratories. Led for many years by [[Elmer Engstrom]], it was used to develop many innovations, including [[color television]], the [[electron microscope]], [[CMOS]]-based technology, [[heterojunction]] physics, [[Light-emitting diode#Discoveries and early devices|optoelectronic emitting devices]], [[liquid crystal display]]s (LCDs), [[videocassette recorder]]s, [[Direct-broadcast satellite|direct broadcast television, direct broadcast satellite systems]] and [[high-definition television]].

RCA plants switched to war production shortly after the U.S. entered the war in December 1941. During World War II, RCA was involved in [[radar]] and radio development in support of the war effort, and ranked 43rd among United States corporations in the value of wartime military production contracts.<ref>[[Whiz Kids (Department of Defense)|Peck, Merton J.]] & [[Frederic M. Scherer|Scherer, Frederic M.]] ''The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis'' (1962) [[Harvard Business School]] p.619</ref> One such contract was to outfit the battleship [[USS Texas]] with a 400-megahertz pulse radar set, using technology developed by RCA acoustics scientist, [[Irving Wolff]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Allison |first=David Kite |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VA_xgFxu5F4C&dq=Irving+Wolff+RCA&pg=PA107 |title=New Eye for the Navy: The Origin of Radar at the Naval Research Laboratory |date=1981 |publisher=The Laboratory |language=en}}</ref> During and after the war, RCA set up several new divisions for defense, space exploration and other activities. The RCA Service Corporation provided large numbers of staff for the [[Distant Early Warning Line|Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line]]. RCA units won five [[Army–Navy "E" Award]]s for Excellence in production.<ref>''Radio Age'' by the Radio Corporation of America, p. 26</ref> Due to the hostilities between Japan and the United States during [[World War II]], the [[Victor Company of Japan]] became an independent company after seceding from RCA Victor in the United States; JVC retained the 'Victor' and "His Master's Voice" trademarks for use in Japan only.

In 1955, RCA sold its Estate brand of large appliance operations to [[Whirlpool Corporation]]. As part of this transaction, Whirlpool was given the right to market "RCA Whirlpool" appliances through the mid-1960s.

RCA manufactured equipment, such as oscilloscopes, for repairing radios, 

RCA Graphic Systems Division (GSD) was an early supplier of electronics designed for the printing and publishing industries. It contracted with German company [[Rudolf Hell]] to market adaptations of the Digiset photocomposition system as the Videocomp, and a Laser Color Scanner. The Videocomp was supported by a Spectra computer that ran the Page-1 and, later the Page-II and FileComp composition systems. RCA later sold the Videocomp rights to [[Information International Inc.]]

RCA Victor became a major proponent of the [[8-track tape|8-track tape cartridge]], which it launched in 1965. Initially, the 8-track made a huge and profitable impact on consumers of recorded music. Sales of the 8-track tape format began to decline during the late 1970s when consumers increasingly favored the 4-track [[compact cassette tape]] format developed by [[Philips]].