The secret behind MSG's surprise 3D broadcast of last night's Rangers/Islanders hockey game? It came together in a two week turnaround which repurposed equipment laying around between stops at a recent Black Eyed Peas concert and next month's NAB show in Las Vegas. Judging by the reviews it was worth the effort with more than a few indicating an interest in buying 3DTVs to check things out at home next time -- while it aired on Cablevision, all the reports we found were based on the screens located at the arena itself. Not everyone agreed on the best aspects of the new production: Christopher Botta of Fanhouse preferred a lack of "reaching through the screen" gimmicks while the New York Times report asked for more opportunities to feel like the players are popping out at the viewer, even though they found the standard HDTV feed "flat, underlit and distant" in comparison. We couldn't find any complaints regarding those ever-present 3D glasses, though issues like someone walking in front of the camera or on screen graphics appearing to leap off the screen revealed there's still a few kinks to work out (camera placement may be further adjusted during an upcoming renovation.) The appeal of 3D sports for fans has already been established, we're wondering if playing in a more 3D-ready arena might be used to convince Lebron or other stars to play home games at MSG, in the meantime, check out all the reviews and a few behind the scenes videos embedded after the break.
@cocopuffs aha, canada. evvvveryone i know loves hockey. i think im the only one who isnt that big a fan in the whole country. but i did watch my olympic team beat yours ;)
This is like the 100th posting this week about 3D hockey games. Seriously, first it was the iPad, then the Windows Phones, and now wall-to-wall coverage on 3D hockey games.
I'm totally kidding.
It sure is nice though to have our old chill engadget back. Just get ready to ramp up that wall-to-wall coverage again when that HTC EVO 4G on Sprint gets ready to launch...that thing looks HOT!!!
After seeing Avatar in 3D, I'm not convinced 3D still isn't a gimmick. I don't think it added anything and some scenes, like the video logs, were jarring. Still, as a gimmick, it sure as hell worked. $2.5 billion (and going) will convince anybody.
I actually thought that Avatar was probably one of the first movies that did 3D right. I've seen some movies in 3D, like Bolt for example, and it added absolutely nothing to the movie.
@Canadian Bacon I'll readily say that Avatar did 3D best, but that the added information to enhance depth perception doesn't really add anything new. Regular, flat, 2D movies already have all the information we need to deduce what is in the foreground and what is in the background. In front of vs. behind. In focus vs. out of focus. More detail vs. less detail.
What may be missing -- and this is nothing more than a thought experiment -- is that parallax, if I'm using the word correctly, is impossible with anything less than a Star Trek-style holodeck.
It could also be that 3D illusion is be broken as the screen image cuts to an insert shot showing detail of some element, then cuts back out to a panorama, then cuts to the character's POV.
Thinking back to my experience of watching the film, I remember it as animation as opposed to the enhanced live action that it was.
What I also thought jarring was the tree spirit powder-puff thingies and how they would pop into existence right in front of me, just above my head and disappear just after passing my chin. They didn't look like there were part of the scene at all.
And, yes, I'm fully aware that I am now officially thinking too much about this.
@cjwild Yeah, I'm assuming the author knows nothing about hockey. The Rangers are ahead of the Islanders too. I don't know why a Rangers win is a miracle to this guy.
I recorded the 3D Rangers vs Islanders game on the Tivo HD tonight just to see what would happen. You get 2 images side-by-side. I'm very curious to see what would happen if I fed this to a 3D HDTV. I suspect that TivoHD is fully 3D ready. Maybe just wishful thinking.
I got about an hour and KMTTG is showing 8.26GB at 18.45MPS. The video is protected so I can't transfer it to my PC.
I can't believe that the NY Times asked for shit popping out at you from the TV. Have they not watched Avatar? You want to see 3D with depth moving away from you. Things popping towards the viewer is cheap and gimmicky.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
posted March 25th 2010 9:02PM
Who would watch 3d hocky lol jk there's a lot of ppl who like hocky just not in Florida -_-
@cocopuffs
The people who would watch 3D "hocky" are those who can spell the word properly.
@Dafrety Oops :p my bad lol
@cocopuffs aha, canada. evvvveryone i know loves hockey. i think im the only one who isnt that big a fan in the whole country. but i did watch my olympic team beat yours ;)
@cocopuffs
What is up engadget???
This is like the 100th posting this week about 3D hockey games. Seriously, first it was the iPad, then the Windows Phones, and now wall-to-wall coverage on 3D hockey games.
I'm totally kidding.
It sure is nice though to have our old chill engadget back. Just get ready to ramp up that wall-to-wall coverage again when that HTC EVO 4G on Sprint gets ready to launch...that thing looks HOT!!!
Sabres were here, Rangers suck.
*tries to look excited*
Great. So I can't even go to Engadget to escape my crappy hockey team. Wonderful.
So....none of your "reviews" are from people who purchased a TV? In other words, this is just a trial where no one was paying attention.
WHAT???
these videos are not in 3d...im not watching them!
After seeing Avatar in 3D, I'm not convinced 3D still isn't a gimmick. I don't think it added anything and some scenes, like the video logs, were jarring. Still, as a gimmick, it sure as hell worked. $2.5 billion (and going) will convince anybody.
@ColonelKernel
I actually thought that Avatar was probably one of the first movies that did 3D right. I've seen some movies in 3D, like Bolt for example, and it added absolutely nothing to the movie.
@Canadian Bacon I'll readily say that Avatar did 3D best, but that the added information to enhance depth perception doesn't really add anything new. Regular, flat, 2D movies already have all the information we need to deduce what is in the foreground and what is in the background. In front of vs. behind. In focus vs. out of focus. More detail vs. less detail.
What may be missing -- and this is nothing more than a thought experiment -- is that parallax, if I'm using the word correctly, is impossible with anything less than a Star Trek-style holodeck.
It could also be that 3D illusion is be broken as the screen image cuts to an insert shot showing detail of some element, then cuts back out to a panorama, then cuts to the character's POV.
Thinking back to my experience of watching the film, I remember it as animation as opposed to the enhanced live action that it was.
What I also thought jarring was the tree spirit powder-puff thingies and how they would pop into existence right in front of me, just above my head and disappear just after passing my chin. They didn't look like there were part of the scene at all.
And, yes, I'm fully aware that I am now officially thinking too much about this.
I wonder if one private individual watched it?
Okay, so yeah the Islanders have been having a better-than-normal year, but it's not really a surprise the rangers beat them..
@cjwild Yeah, I'm assuming the author knows nothing about hockey. The Rangers are ahead of the Islanders too. I don't know why a Rangers win is a miracle to this guy.
I recorded the 3D Rangers vs Islanders game on the Tivo HD tonight just to see what would happen. You get 2 images side-by-side. I'm very curious to see what would happen if I fed this to a 3D HDTV. I suspect that TivoHD is fully 3D ready. Maybe just wishful thinking.
I got about an hour and KMTTG is showing 8.26GB at 18.45MPS. The video is protected so I can't transfer it to my PC.
I can't believe that the NY Times asked for shit popping out at you from the TV. Have they not watched Avatar? You want to see 3D with depth moving away from you. Things popping towards the viewer is cheap and gimmicky.
freakin awesome! hockey rules.
Islanders are almost the worst team in the NHL right now...not a big surprise that the Rangers beat them.
I am 99.999995% sure that the Rangers played the Devils last night. I was kinda in a bar getting hammered during the shoot-off.
@Salath911
I think you meant "shoot out," but whatever.
and Comcast's first 3d broadcast is going to be golf...
BWAHAHAHAHAHA
Get closer to the action!:
http://www.thewhatever.com/post/479568170/get-closer-to-the-action
My first thought was "what's a hockey net?"