Sky suggests UK homes could see 3D TV by the end of the year
By Donald Melanson 
posted Mar 9th 2009 5:12PM
posted Mar 9th 2009 5:12PM
Sky has already successfully tested its 3D broadcasting capabilities, and hinted that the 2012 London Olympics could be comin' at ya like never before, but it now looks like the broadcaster could be set to roll out the service even sooner than many expected. According to Sky's Chief Engineer Chris Johns, Sky now has the "capability for homes to see 3D by year-end," although he unsurprisingly didn't offer any firm timeline for an actual rollout, or even a confirmation of the exact type of 3D system that'd be used, saying simply that they're continuing to test different systems and that he envisions it to be "glasses-based in some form." He also added that Sky is focused on building a content library "over the coming year," so that would seem to suggest that an actual launch would come very near the end of the year, if not later.[Via Register Hardware, thanks SK]
amaaazing!! one huge step for mankind! shame on all those who doubt 3d!
I hope that Virgin Media get on the bandwagon too and we get both of the UKs biggest digital subscription service providers working towards 3D (and also because I have Virgin Media... not Sky). :P
Just in case people are wondering, this is the same Sky that is owned by News Corporation and thus it is a sister of Fox, The Sun and IGN.
I don't know if that makes it more or less likely, but it is worth keeping in mind. That and the fact that their HDTV subscription for sports is close to £50 per month.
For £50 a month you get virtually all channels, not just HD and sport.
Well it beats TiVo which all the Americans rave about.
Sky is immeasurably better than Fox with nowhere near the bias with regards to their news channels. On topic however, sounds amazing, and i can't wait to watch the footie on it.
They just split the picture into stereo and broadcast 2 video feeds side by side as one picture. . . . then its up to your TV to do the rest from what I have read, so this may not be as quick on the up take as suggested. But i could be wrong!
This could be very cool, though I'll wait for a demo of the tech before I get super excited about it.
- Michael
thanks Michael, keep us posted, k?
Very nice Sky, but would you mind hurrying up and actually get the new SKY HD update out. According to you, it should start rolling out this month. I'm waiting!!
BUt this could be very cool, but no doubt means more pounds for me to pay. I'm already giving up £50+ a month, so just don't think paying yet more money to Rupert will happen from me.
INTERNATIONAL DATACASTING
This has just been shown on The Gadget Show here in the UK and they said that SKY have no intentions to show 3D in the near future, but the Olympics are something they are looking at.
Its brilliant how they do it.
At the minute they are testing it on Boxing and Football.
Check out the Five website for more info on The Gadget Show.
Bear in mind that Gadget Show article (which I also watched) was recorded before Sky's announcement 3 days ago...
totally off topic, but if the chick w/ the bongos in the Lane Bryant ad on the site wears anything over a size 14, she has got to be about 8 feet tall. Not that i'm complaining. . i'm just saying.
I so do believe in this, and i'm really happy to see a company finally pushing the technology!
Half life.... so is that half orange? whats the other half... I don't trust your brand.
It's just an orange box oke ;)
I saw the 3D trial in an inflatable cube outside the Dunfermline contact centre. It was all right with some programs but most of the stuff we were shown looked the same as 2D
although thinking back... I was singing Weezer - Buddy Holly thanks to the glasses we were wearing... that kinda put me off. I'd say it worked best on the football though
'he envisions it to be "glasses-based in some form."'....... doh
Wow. That looks like an EX3 (possibly even an EX1). Amazing to see that those cameras could produce the broadcast quality that they are looking for. Don't get me wrong, EX1's and 3's are amazing cameras, but I thought they would have something more like a PDW-700 or something.
Thats proberly just a stock photo. So who knows how old it is.
Hi guys.
Nice chap, Chris Johns. Sky have worked hard to get 3D going, and their committed to new technology like pretty much no other broadcaster worldwide - fact.
Interesting chats I've had recently suggest Sky intends to be regularly broadcasting in 3D by 2013. You might draw your own conclusions about London 2012 from that - but Sky has no direct involvement in Olympic broadcasting thanks to the 'crown jewels' protected sports broadcasting list in the UK, which prohibits a pay-TV operator from buying Olympic rights.
Right now, Sky are in the middle of building a new sports broadcast building for £200m. Expect this to be a key part of their moves towards HD....
i'm down with anything that would bring natalie sawyer and/or millie clode into my house in 3D. let's do this!
Do I really want to watch a classic film like say Lawrence of Arabia as a series of layered billboards? 3D is cool for about 5 seconds and then you get sick of it. It doesn't look 3D, it just looks layered and kinda weird too.
I think I speak for a lot of us here at Engadget when I say:
3D PORN FTW!
Haha, oh Sky. You took forever to get us on the HD train and it still sucks in comparison to other countries. You're more than happy to charge through the nose for it though (I cancelled my movies addon ages ago and have no interest in sports). Anytime TV is consequently filled up with either crap that requires Movies/Sports subs to watch or simply crap that isn't worth watching.
I can perhaps see Sky keeping to their word on bringing it out this year, but it's not going to come cheap.
As someone said above, perhaps they should get their fingers out and update Sy HD, it was supposed to be updated back in mid 08!
Wangs slapping my cheeks and moneyshots flying into my face?
PASS
In response to Zoidberg, silly comment system...
And I predict sky could be bankrupt before the end of the year, quite the conundrum.