Kent Dastrup Broadbent was born on June 19, 1926, to Thora Dastrup and Berne Passey Broadbent in Provo, Utah. He graduated from Provo High School and went on to get a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and mathematics at Brigham Young University, and a Master of Science degree in physics at the Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio. He completed graduate work in physics and electronics at the University of Utah. He founded MCA Laboratories (Music Corporation of America)in 1969, which pioneered the development of laser video disc technology. In 1972, his laboratory gave the world's first public demonstrations of laser disc technology that they had developed. He published numerous papers in technical journals that outlined research in video playback systems. He was the sole inventor on various patents of video playback systems. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout his life, serving two missions in Lubumbashi, Zaire, Africa and in Terre Haute, Indiana. Kent passed away in 1994.