Motorola announced set-top technology that solves one of the major problems with 3-D television.

At present, subscribers need to set their TVs to 3-D mode. When their TVs are in 3-D mode, 2-D channels and menu screens become difficult, if not impossible, to view.

Motorola’s Mobile Devices and Home unit announced software for its DCX line of set-tops that enables the boxes to process the video for on-screen display.

The 3-D TV processing software automatically detects the presence of 3-D content and identifies the type of 3-D format used to ensure proper delivery and display on the 3-D TV.

Upon detection of 3-D content, the set-top automatically reformats all on-screen text and graphics to match the incoming 3-D format so that they can be correctly displayed by the 3-D TV set, the company explained.

The result is that consumers will be able to seamlessly switch between 2-D and 3-D channels.

The 3-D processing software supports all on-screen displays such as closed captioning, emergency alerts, application graphics and text overlays, as well as existing EPGs and applications, Motorola said.

The set-tops support 3-D TV over both MPEG-4 and MPEG-2 and are capable of 1080p24/30 output, the company added.

John Burke, senior vice president of Motorola Mobile Devices and Home, said, "The development of this 3-D software enhancement gives our service provider customers a straightforward solution for deploying high-quality 3-D TV services today using their existing video delivery infrastructure.”