Robert Adler: Father of TV Remote Dead at 93

Robert Adler invented the television remote control while working for Zenith over 50 years ago. He died yesterday at age 93.

"People ask me all the time -- 'Don't you feel guilty for it?' And I say that's ridiculous," he said. "It seems reasonable and rational to control the TV from where you normally sit and watch television."

His invention will live on forever....

His full bio....

Best known as the "Father of the TV Remote Control," Dr. Robert Adler is responsible for a large number of significant scientific contributions to the electronics industry, including landmark inventions in the field of consumer products and in sophisticated specialized communications equipment. He holds more than 180 patents.

Dr. Adler joined Zenith's research division in 1941, after receiving his Ph.D. degree in physics from the University of Vienna in 1937. He was named associate director in November 1952, vice president in 1959, and vice president and director of research in 1963. He officially retired from Zenith in 1982 but remains active as a technical consultant.

In the consumer electronics field, Dr. Adler developed Zenith's Space Command� ultrasonic remote control for TV sets, the first practical wireless TV remote, which Zenith introduced in 1956. In 1959, he received the 1958 Outstanding Technical Achievement Award of the Institute of Radio Engineers Professional Group on Broadcast and Television Receivers for his "original work on ultrasonic remote controls" for television.

Among Dr. Adler's earlier work is the gated-beam tube which, at the time of its introduction, represented an entirely new concept in the field of vacuum tubes. The use of this tube greatly simplified the sound system in television receivers, markedly improving reception by screening out certain types of sound interference while lowering the cost of the sound channel.

Dr. Adler also was instrumental in originating and developing a synchronizing circuit which permitted demonstrably greater stability in fringe areas of television reception. This invention was in wide use for many years and its principles are still employed today.

The electron beam parametric amplifier, developed in 1958 by Dr. Adler jointly with Dr. Glen Wade, then of Stanford University, was at the time the most sensitive practical amplifier for ultra high frequencies (UHF). It was used by radio astronomers in the U.S. as well as abroad, and by the U.S. Air Force for long-range missile detection.

Dr. Adler's original work in the field of acousto-optical interaction was instrumental in the 1966 public demonstration, by a team of Zenith engineers, of an experimental television display using ultrasonic deflection and modulation of a laser beam to produce a wall-size TV picture without a cathode ray tube.

During World War II, Dr. Adler worked on high frequency magnetostrictive oscillators for use in Armed Forces communications equipment. His early work on electromechanical filters paved the way for the development of the highly compact filters widely used in aircraft receivers after the war. In the mid-60s, he suggested the use of surface acoustic waves in intermediate frequency filters for color television sets, a technology that has since become universal. Acoustic waves also are used in touch screens, employing principles he originated.

In 1951, Dr. Adler became a Fellow of the Institute of Radio Engineers (now the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or IEEE), a professional honor which is conferred by the Institute's board of directors solely on the basis of "eminence and distinguished service." He was cited for his "developments of transmission and detection devices for frequency-modulated signals and of electromechanical filter systems."

Dr. Adler received the 1967 Inventor-of-the-Year Award from George Washington University's Patent, Trademark and Copyright Research Institute for his inventions in the field of electronic products, devices and systems used in aircraft communications, radar, TV receivers and FM broadcasting. In 1970, he received the Consumer Electronics Outstanding Achievement Award from the IEEE. This award is made annually to an engineer who has contributed significantly toward the advancement of consumer electronics through engineering achievements.

Dr. Adler also received the 1974 Outstanding Technical Paper Award from the Chicago section of the IEEE for his report on "An Optical Video Disc Player for NTSC Receivers." His other IEEE awards include the Edison Medal in 1980 and the Sonics and Ultrasonics Achievement Award in 1981. The Edison Medal is the principal annual award of the IEEE and is presented for a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering, or the electrical arts.

In 1998, Dr. Adler joined other Zenith engineers in accepting an engineering Emmy award for "pioneering work in the development of the remote control." In 2000, the Consumer Electronics Association acknowledged Dr. Adler's significant contributions to the industry, inducting him into the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame.

Also in 2000, Dr. Adler was inducted into the National Academy of Arts and Sciences Chicago/Midwest Chapter's "Silver Circle," which recognizes "outstanding individuals who have devoted a quarter of a century or more to the television industry and have made a significant contribution to Chicago broadcasting."

Dr. Adler is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was born in Vienna, Austria on December 4, 1913.