3-D sports being readied for your den?
4 Jan, 2009 Athletic Turf NewsIn what's being compared to Monday Night Football and HD television in terms of its impact with viewers, executives of Burbank, CA-based 3ality Digital believe that 3-D telecasts will revolutionize the broadcasting of NFL football. Others in both the NFL (indeed practically all major spectator sports) and the 3-D industry agree that it's not a matter of if but when.
On Dec. 4, several hundred invited guests in theaters in Hollywood, New York and Foxborough, MA, watched the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders in 3-D. 3ality Digital shot the game with special cameras and transmitted it via satellite to the theaters. Viewers comments after the experience were glowing, according to news accounts.
Other sporting events planned for 3-D in selected, 3-D equipped theaters include Fox's broadcast of the Jan. 8 national college championship game between Florida and Oklahoma, and the slam dunk competition Feb. 14 during the NBA's All-Star weekend.
While the technology to deliver pulse-quickening 3-D sports to theater audiences appears to be in place, there are significant challenges to bringing it to sports bars and into consumers' homes. In other words, don't expect to find a 3-D-enabled TV in your favorite electronic store anytime soon.
“3-D sportscasts called a potential game changer,” by Robert Preer, Boston Globe, Dec. 29
“It's the NFL, live in 3-D,” by By Bill Ordine, Baltimore Sun, Dec. 4
"Coming to You! NFL Looks at 3-D," by Sarah McBride, Wall Street Journal
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