Freescale Semiconductor and RealD to Create New At-Home 3D Viewing Experience for Consumers

New RealD active 3D eyewear technology built with Freescale ZigBee™ RF4CE 3D platform powers home high definition 3D TV viewing

LAS VEGAS — 2011 International CES — Freescale Semiconductor, the number one supplier of ZigBee™ RF4CE and IEEE® 802.15.4 chipsets, announced today it is collaborating with RealD Inc. (NYSE: RLD), a leading global licensor of 3D technologies, on a new home 3D viewing experience. Freescale and RealD are combining their expertise to create an active 3D eyewear platform that provides realistic high definition 3D TV viewing while solving certain technical and cost problems associated with infrared based systems.

The jointly developed solution uses Freescale’s RF4CE platform for the over-the-air 3D synchronization combined with advanced lens switching, filtering and optical technology from RealD, resulting in an enhanced 3D TV active eyewear solution. Freescale’s MC1323x System on a Chip (SoC) powers this platform.

“We are proud to be working with the 3D leaders at RealD,” said Glen Burchers, director of consumer segment marketing for Freescale. “Consumers are clearly excited about enjoying the spectacular 3D experience in their own homes. This is made all the better with the reliable high speed, two-way communications provided by Freescale’s MC13233C SoC.”

Many of the consumer 3D solutions shipping today rely on older infrared (IR) technology, which may have line-of-site and field-of-vision limitations and can suffer interference from household incandescent and florescent lighting. For these reasons, consumer electronics OEMs are moving to more reliable RF solutions. ZigBee RF4CE technology improves speed, reliability and signal integrity; enables devices to operate from longer distances and removes line-of-sight and field-of-vision barriers. Manufacturers can use the same radio for RF4CE remote control and 3D synchronization, helping lower the cost and complexity as compared to IR wiring harnesses.

“By working with Freescale to create an RF 3D synchronization solution, we are able to offer consumers a cinema-quality 3D experience anywhere in their homes,” said Steve Shannon, executive vice president of Consumer Electronics at RealD. “Freescale’s RF4CE technology has been demonstrated to be very robust and reliable and overcomes the challenges of today’s IR solutions.”

Demo at Consumer Electronics Show

Freescale will be showing a full 3D experience utilizing their RF4CE 3D synchronization protocol and RealD 3D active glasses in their hospitality suite at CES, Jan. 6-9, 2011 in Las Vegas.

MC1323x family for consumer electronics based on ZigBee RF4CE

Freescale’s MC1323x SoC device family provides a highly integrated solution with premier processing capabilities and minimal power consumption. The MC1323x family features an 8-bit HCS08 microcontroller, a fully compliant IEEE 802.15.4 transceiver, flash memory, RAM and high-performance peripherals specifically selected and optimized for today’s consumer electronic devices. The family allows customers to directly support and use legacy IR functions and devices in addition to RF control and monitoring.