Three continents, three more milestone announcements for 3D. First up is
Sky TV, which, with or without 15,000 or so flat screens from LG, is officially launching its Sky 3D channel around the Man. U/Chelsea game on April 3. Already have a 3DTV and Sky's "top channels and HD pack?" Call the company with details for activation, while everyone else checks to see if their local pub is among the thousand plus already signed up to receive the
six live 3D matches slated for this season (plus the Coca Cola league playoff finals) and demo reel for all non-footy hours of the day. Bringing the focus back home,
ESPN 3D has scheduled the first event it will produce and air itself, the MLB Home Run Derby on July 12, a day after
launching with the SA/Mexico World Cup game. Other events officially on deck (the plan for the first year is still about 85) include several college basketball tournaments and the ACC Championship football game in December. Last but not least is Japan, already home to at least one 3D network, which will soon have access to even more over the
cross-manufacturer AcTVila video on-demand service. Clearly, the only logical thing to do is to keep that "3D will never take off" comment macro keyed up, it will be getting a lot of use over the next few months.
posted March 21st 2010 6:29AM
Finally, some well needed content :D
Good stuff. Can't wait to give 3d football a try.
@Shopith
The problem with 3D sports will be one of depth perception. Given the most sports are shot with a wide angle view until there is a replay, you won't really notice the 3D much. It's just like looking at a football game sitting in the same position at the camera. From that distance, most things will look really flat. Now, when they give you a replay from one of the close cameras, it will make a big difference. But do you want to pay all that cabbage for watching just the replays in 3D? Color me unimpressed.
@The Digital Pimp Do you know if a person who has a 'lazy eye' or blind on 1 eye can view 3D? Is the use of both eyes a requirement to even have a 3D experience?
@Smkingun Yes, full use of both eyes and a brain that can discern 3D are required. Don't laugh, some people have two functioning eyes but are incapable of discerning 3D because their brains simply aren't wired for it.
I'm blind in one eye, so I can't see 3D at all.
@Smkingun
UnnDunn is right on point. Some people's depth perception can be lacking. I heard several people say they didn't see much in the 3D version of Avatar, while other people more attuned to it got motion sickness. My problem was the frackin' extra $4 bucks for mostly nothing :P
@LGBlogUK
Exactly. It really hit me when I saw Avatar in 3D. The opening shot of the space ship struck me as flat, so much I mentioned it to my wife. Unless the camera is panning, you really don't see any depth in wide/long shots.
"3D will never take off" and I will stand by it even if it takes off.
3D making a stand here and its here to stay. Will buy when I can afford one!!
I wonder if they'll ever figure out how to ditch the glasses......
@I was swhite237 I lost my passwo
Will require holographic display, I'm afraid. Maybe by Star Date 2258.42. :)
If these people think everyone who just bought a $2000 flatscreen HDTV is going to go right out and buy a brand new $3000 flatscreen 3D HDTV, AND a new 3D Blu-Ray player AND 15 pairs of $150 glasses to watch programming, they are sadly mistaken. This is going to be the biggest bust in the history of electronics, mark my words. Avatar in 3D was great, loved every minute of it. but I AM NOT going to sit in my chair every night or peek around the corner from the kitchen switching to my 3D glasses to check the TV in the living room. This is totally ridiculous.
I supposed this crap is what DirecTV is going to put on their new satellite they launched months ago and have never used, despite touting they now have the capacity for 200 HD channels. Where is Turner Classic HD, or any of the rest of the HD channels they don't currently carry?
@ggore
Agreed. I see 3D as a gimmick, something fun to do for the sake of it being different. Avatar was a great movie, and the fact that I got to add the novelty of 3D IMAX to the experience was cool...but the last thing I want to do is sit down and put glasses on to watch a news reporter talk about the latest local news. Even if they can remove the glasses from the equation...unless the experience is literally PERFECT, then I'd much rather just have a beautiful 2D picture, than fuzzy, or "must sit at this angle", garbage 3D picture.
@ggore
I don't mind adding 3D into the equation, as long as it's not mandatory. I, for the life of me, can't make the 3D effect work. Both Avatar & Alice in Wonderland just gave me headaches, & the 3D effects were lost in favor of seeing two images at the same time. Needless to say, that ruined both movies for me, so please, unless active glasses are leaps and bounds better than passive, no mandatory 3D.
I'm going to enjoy listening to the HD podcast over the next year or so as 3D debuts, flops and then dies.
So what are these pubs going to do for the 3D matches? Rent out the glasses to punters for £2 or something?
@diamonddogs Why not, Cinemas do it. I've got a couple of pairs from watching UP and Avatar so as long as the technology is compatible.
@d0mth0ma5 the problem is these glasses are not entirely cheap and if the pub does acquire a certain number, how much would they charge? These glasses are not wireless to begin with. And one more thing, don't you need to be in a certain angle to properly see the content?
@diamonddogs Do pubs also show games in 5.1 surround sound? Or do they just use TV (2.0 sound) speakers?
@Center Depends on the pub. The big pub chains/breweries like JD Wetherspoon and Greene King will have surround sound in most of their pubs (particularly the city centre ones) but smaller local places most likely just have a TV with a couple of speakers.
Watched a replay of the 3D Arsenal-United game in London a couple of weeks back - was decidedly underwhelmed. Football just doesnt really work in 3D, that game is too 'flat'. Its shot sideways, so nothing is every really coming towards the screen, and as a consequence 'you', to feel the effect of 3D.
They did show some promos though, that worked a little better. There was a rugby one where one of the players slammed the ball to the ground and as it came towards the screen it did feel as though it was going to hit you in the face for a second - most of the poeple in the pub moved their head back!
Boxing was surprisingly good, you could see depth in the ring quite nicely, although in a sega mega cd isometric kind of a way.
@MacSam
3D sports is about making it more realistic, NOT about throwing the ball at you. If you want gimicky 3D go to a theme park.
@BenD
All Im saying is 3D doesnt add anything to a football watching experience until something is coming at you when you actually realise there is a point to you watching a game with silly glasses on.
Here's my dumb question of the moment. I'm sort of a amateur tech blogger and was at CES. No one has been able to answer two key questions for me 1) Who actually wants this? This is technology they are trying to force on people for no real reason.
2) No one has been able to tell me why I NEED a new 3D Capable TV and 3D Capable Blu-ray to actually view 3D. When last I checked, all I needed were the glasses to watch the Jonas Brothers Blu-ray 3D Concert Film (I had to review it, so don't laugh), Friday the 13th Pt 2 in 3D on Blu-ray, that dumb Chuck 3D Broadcast last year, and The Grammy's Michael Jackson 3D thing. It all looked 3D to me on my 47 inch Bravia which I just bought a year ago.
All I needed was a pair of 3D glasses to get the 3D to work. I don't see why I would need all the new gear to view something that I can already view now with the cheap, crappy paper glasses that give me a headache. With that said, I will say the 3D Demos with the Active Shutter glasses were pretty stunning.
@malexandria1 (1) Don't want it? Don't buy it. (2) Well, quite; why would you want to use a new system when the old one gives you headaches?
@ianjd 1. I'll end up buying another TV next year, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get an 3D TV and certainly not a 3D Blu-ray player. 3D would at home would be pretty amazing in short bursts for special events, but not something I'd watch for everyday viewing.
2. The paper glasses give me a headache after 10 minutes use, but the polarized ones I'm ok with for an hour at a time. I haven't used the Shutter ones for more than a 4 minute demo so I'm not sure how good they would be.
3. Has anyone done any kind of long term study to show the impact of using 3D would have on people's eyes?
@malexandria1
1) Me and plenty of others.
2) Quality 3D is about being able to deliver each eye a discrete image without distorting the picture. Anaglyph 3D that you are talking about isn't good at either. Active shutter glasses are very good at both but does require new equipment.
@malexandria1 The equipment needs to be able to control the polarisation of the light from each frame. Otherwise the glasses don't do anything, they have nothing to filter out.
I can't believe how fast this went from nothing to a huge deal. You would think that someone had already done at least one 3D broadcast, and the reaction was beyond what anyone could have dreamed of.
I'm not a fan of 3D because it tends to make me feel sick, but I hope this takes off.
Beyond that though at least some of these need to be put in IMAX and the such so people can see exactly what a outproduced 3D experience is like. Sure I have seen movies in 3D, but are sports going to be half as good?
@PhaseDMA
I've seen sports and Avatar in 3D at a theater and I have to say I'd buy a new TV to see sports in 3D, but not just to watch Avatar.
@ Richard Lawler
The English Premiere League doesn't have playoffs...
@Padilla7921 from the Sky PR "and the Coca-Cola Football League Play-Off Finals from Wembley Stadium at the end of May" I won't pretend to know what those are and how they differ from any other playoff system, but that's what I was referring to.
@RichardLawler Coca Cola League != Premiere League; it's the league below.
@ianjd The Football league pyramid goes Premier League, Championship, League One, League Two. The lower three are all sponsored by Coca Cola (at the moment) and all have play-offs for the final promotion place to the league above.
@d0mth0ma5 ah, now I get it, i'll update the post so it's clearly noting the lower league.
@Padilla7921
Saw the correction. Didn't mean to seem like I was doggin' ya, Richard. Cheerio.
I would rather have higher bitrates for the football than 3d (I live in the UK, so don't know if ESPN are good, but ITV HD football in particular is often less than stellar, despite the lack of gary lineker).
I saw a 3DTV in Harrods yesterday. Nothing great about it except the price tag - which was huge like everything else in that crazy place.
I'll put on glasses to watch special 3D content like a movie or a playoff game, but there is NO WAY any of my friends or family are ever going to sit around watching TV with 3D glasses. I have a hard enough time getting someone to go to a 3D movie with me that doesn't think the effect makes them sick and/or isn't really worth the additional ticket cost. I'll take 4K over 3D any day.
I saw both LED and plasma 3D demos in Best Buy yesterday . The LED version showing Monsters vs. Aliens had image blurring during fast action scenes and the glasses dimmed out at different angles . Not so with the plasma demo where images were crisp and clear from any angle . But I did feel my eyes struggle to adjust at times - meaning eyestrain headaches after watching for extended periods . A very cool tech , but it won't be for everybody - even in the same household . People watch tv to relax and get away from the headaches of everyday life , not get more headaches . After the initial buzz dies down I see this tech selling in very limited numbers ala Laservue .
I went to Best Buy to try out the Samsung 3D TV.
WOW! I'm getting a 40" as soon as there is a PS3 bundle for under $2,000 with 36 months no interest.
its has taken just over 10 years to bring HD content to the homes.
and in my opinion it has been a disaster
Can't wait til this 3D thing is over with...
If 3D because popular, expect a medical term called vestibular migraines to be a household name. Basically a type of headaches associated with vertigo.
I can see it now a bunch of beer-guzzling meatheads watching 3+ hours of 3D sports and then suffering from bouts of vertigo and headaches.
I just don't get this 3D phenom
We barely have mastered high definition TV as it is
Let's get most everything on 1080p before we move to 3D. I don't want to wear glasses for TV events. I just want to watch it as is.
And I don't want to spend money on a new TV
The Derby should be a good try and experience for 3D, since it's like a movie, slow, no running, just guys destroying balls.
Good one
Goodone
Good article
3D is in the infancy stages. Content is still thin, but we should be thankful for the efforts being made to bring content into your home. TV seems to be leading the way with the World Cup and other sporting events being slated to air in 3D.
I would buy a 3D TV if you are planning on buying a brand new TV. Don't buy one just for the 3D function. Here's how to get set up - http://www.3dyourtv.com/post/buying-guide/3d-tv-buying-guide-basics