The ZigBee Alliance, a group of companies focused on creating wireless solutions for energy management, and other residential, commercial and consumer applications, is now developing a new standard to enable more flexible and efficient 3D connections between 3D HDTVs and 3D glasses.
ZigBee 3D Sync is meant to replace 30-year-old infrared (IR) technology currently used in today’s 3D products by providing a standard robust radio frequency (RF) solution, the Alliance says in it press release. It will be designed to allow consumers greater freedom of movement while wearing 3D glasses without disrupting gaming or 3D HDTV viewing. It will also eliminate interference due to ambient light sources.
ZigBee 3D Sync also will provide an two-way communications between 3D glasses and equipment, allowing them to switch automatically between 2D and 3D video feeds. Plus, 3D glasses built using ZigBee 3D will use energy more efficiently, giving consumers more hours of 3D entertainment per charge, the Alliance says.
The standard will deliver smarter functionality for 3D devices, including support for multi-vendor 3D glasses interoperability, fully programmable display frame rates and shutter open/close times, an unlimited number of glasses, multiple user experience modes for seamless switching between 3D and 2D, multi-player (full screen) 2D gaming where each player receives a separate 2D image, multi-player 3D gaming where each player receives a separate 3D image, and frequency agility for interference avoidance.
“When complete, ZigBee 3D Sync will help CE manufacturers deliver the best possible 3D experience for consumers,” said Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. “ZigBee 3D Sync is the latest CE-oriented standard we are developing to replace outdated IR technology that no longer delivers the great experience consumers want and expect.”
ZigBee 3D Sync can be used simultaneously with the ZigBee Input Device and ZigBee Remote Control standards introduced last year for CE devices in response to strong interest from CE manufacturers. All three standards utilize the ZigBee RF4CE specification that was specifically designed to replace IR technology.
When complete, ZigBee 3D Sync will be the Alliance’s ninth standard.
