Real3D, Inc. was a maker of arcade graphics boards, a spin-off from Lockheed Martin. The company made several 3D hardware designs that were used by Sega, the most widely used being the graphics hardware in the Sega Model 2 and Model 3 arcade systems. A partnership with

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the devel ...

and SGI led to the Intel740 graphics card, which was not successful in the market. Rapid changes in the marketplace led to the company being sold to Intel in 1999.

History

The majority of Real3D was formed by research and engineering divisions originally part of GE Aerospace. Their experience traces its way back to the Project Apollo Visual Docking Simulator, the first full-color 3D computer generated image system. GE sold similar systems of increasing complexity through the 1970s, but were never as large as other companies in the simulator space, like

Singer Corporation Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I. M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac Singer, Isaac M. Singer with New York lawyer Edward Cabot Clark, Edward C. Clark. Best known for its sewing mac ...

CAE CAE may refer to: Organisations Aviation * CAE Aviation, a Luxembourgian aviation services company * CAE Inc. (formerly Canadian Aviation Electronics), a Canadian manufacturer of simulation technologies and training provider * Régional Compagnie A ...

. When "neutron"

Jack Welch John Francis Welch Jr. (November 19, 1935 – March 1, 2020) was an American business executive, chemical engineer, and writer. He was Chairman and CEO of General Electric (GE) between 1981 and 2001. When Welch retired from GE, he receive ...

took over

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

in 1981 he demanded that every division in the company be 1st or 2nd in its industry, or face being sold off. GE Aerospace lasted longer than many other divisions, but was eventually sold off to

Martin Marietta The Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of Glenn L. Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin. History Martin Ma ...

in 1992. In 1995, Martin Marietta and Lockheed merged to form

Lockheed Martin Corporation The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is ...

, the world’s largest

defense contractor The arms industry, also known as the arms trade, is a global industry which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology. It consists of a commercial industry involved in the research and development, engineering, production, and ...

. Following the merger, Lockheed Martin decided to market their graphics technology for civilian use. In January 1995 they set up Real3D and formed a relationship with Sega. This led to the company's most successful product run, designing the 3D hardware using in over 200,000 Sega Model2 and Model3 arcade systems, two of the most popular systems in history. The company also formed a partnership with

and

Chips and Technologies Chips and Technologies (C&T), founded in Milpitas, California in December 1984 by Gordon A. Campbell and Dado Banatao, was an early fabless semiconductor company. Its first product, announced September 1985, was a four chip EGA chipset that ...

to introduce similar technology as an add-in card for PC's, a project known as "Auburn". This project became a showcase for the

Accelerated Graphics Port Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) is a parallel expansion card standard, designed for attaching a video card to a computer system to assist in the acceleration of 3D computer graphics. It was originally designed as a successor to PCI-type conn ...

system being introduced by Intel, which led to several design decisions that hampered the resulting products. Released in 1998 as the Intel740, the system lasted less than a year in the market before being sold off under the StarFighter and Lightspeed brandnames. By 1999 both relationships were ending, and Lockheed Martin was focussing on its military assets. On 1 October 1999 the company closed, and its assets were sold to Intel on the 14th. ATI hired many of the remaining employees for a new Orlando office.

3dfx Interactive 3dfx Interactive was an American technology company headquartered in San Jose, California, founded in 1994, that specialized in the manufacturing of 3D graphics processing units, and later, video cards. It was a pioneer in the field from the ...

had sued Real3D on a patent basis, and Intel's purchase moved the lawsuits to the new owner. Intel settled the issue by selling all of the

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

back to 3dFX. By this point,

nVidia Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...

had acquired all of SGI's graphics development resources, which included a 10% share in Real3D. This led to series of lawsuits, joined by ATI. The two companies were involved in lawsuits over Real3D's patents until a 2001 cross-licensing settlement.TheRegister - Intel/Real3D and ATI Settle Lawsuit
/ref>

References

External links

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American companies established in 1995 American companies disestablished in 1999 Computer companies established in 1995 Computer companies disestablished in 1999 Defunct computer companies of the United States Defunct computer hardware companies Former Lockheed Martin companies Graphics hardware companies Intel acquisitions Intel graphics