[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Fox Sports Conducting 3-D Tests[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Network Seeks to Trump HD[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]While most networks struggle to figure out how best to take advantage of high-definition technology, Fox Sports is testing a technology that's been considered the next big thing since the 1950s: 3-D.
Last week the New York Post reported that Fox Sports "is in the beginning stages of developing 3-D television technology" that doesn't require glasses. The article quoted Fox Sports Chairman David Hill as saying "3-D is going to be the next big thing" and "I reckon that it will happen in the next 10 years … it is going to be as big as color [TV]."
The information was a little off. Mr. Hill actually first started talking 3-D and conducting tests with the format in 2004, when the network shot the NFC Championship game in 3-D. A boxing match and a Los Angeles Lakers game have since followed. The results have never been televised, and Fox executives needed 3-D glasses to properly view the footage. But the network was still encouraged by the experiment.
In both the New York Post story and in 2004, Mr. Hill saw 3-D as not just the next technology but a format that reduces HD to merely a stepping stone.
"HD will be fine for a while, but that doesn't alter the picture, it just makes it clearer and sharper," Mr. Hill told the Boston Globe in 2004. "You'll be able to recognize an announcer's toupee more easily in HD. But in our lifetimes, the ultimate sports broadcasts will be in 3-D."
Mr. Hill is out of the country this week and unavailable for comment. But widely available 3-D TV technology isn't as far-fetched as it sounds, and some serious gains have come since Fox Sports' first tests.
Cellphones with 3-D screens are popular in Japan. Top-shelf video games such as "Halo 2" are programmed in 3-D with the expectation that 3-D playback is forthcoming.
Game consoles Xbox 360 and the upcoming Playstation 3 are made with standards that could support 3-D playback. Last year the South Korean government announced "3-D Vision 2010," an initiative to develop technology that will make 3-D the worldwide standard within four years, according to the New York Times.
A curious benefit to 3-D technology is that it allows multiple screens to be displayed simultaneously. A person watching the display from one angle can view Discovery Channel, while a person watching from another angle can watch CNN.
Television technology experts, however, are skeptical about the format.
"Seems a little premature to be talking about 3-D as the next big thing when HD is just reaching puberty," said Bruce Leichtman, president of Leichtman Research Group.
Jimmy Schaeffler, chairman and chief service officer of The Carmel Group, said the concept is attractive but will face consumer suspicion.
"I can't help but recall wearing glasses in movie theaters and at home, in several prior iterations of '3-D is the next big thing,'" he said. "Fox's new 3-D development will have to be that much better to overcome that inbred suspicion."
That Fox Sports should lead the 3-D charge is no surprise. Fox has pioneered several technological innovations in an effort to enhance the sports viewing experience. Fox uses the XMO Super SloMo camera, for example, touted as the highest-speed broadcast camera available, to demonstrate how a baseball is impacted by a bat and changes shape in mid-flight. The company also employs the StroMotion video technique, which captures a sequence of movements and allows the game director to show the exact path of a runner or the ball.
ESPN has been aggressive in the HD space, but Fox claims it is the only network developing 3-D technology. An ESPN spokesperson said the network is "evaluating" 3-D, but there's "nothing to speak of at this time."[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This article is part of TVWeek.com's High Definition newsletter, a weekly source of breaking HD news, articles and interviews written by Senior Reporter James Hibberd. [/FONT]
Network Seeks to Trump HD[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]While most networks struggle to figure out how best to take advantage of high-definition technology, Fox Sports is testing a technology that's been considered the next big thing since the 1950s: 3-D.
Last week the New York Post reported that Fox Sports "is in the beginning stages of developing 3-D television technology" that doesn't require glasses. The article quoted Fox Sports Chairman David Hill as saying "3-D is going to be the next big thing" and "I reckon that it will happen in the next 10 years … it is going to be as big as color [TV]."
The information was a little off. Mr. Hill actually first started talking 3-D and conducting tests with the format in 2004, when the network shot the NFC Championship game in 3-D. A boxing match and a Los Angeles Lakers game have since followed. The results have never been televised, and Fox executives needed 3-D glasses to properly view the footage. But the network was still encouraged by the experiment.
In both the New York Post story and in 2004, Mr. Hill saw 3-D as not just the next technology but a format that reduces HD to merely a stepping stone.
"HD will be fine for a while, but that doesn't alter the picture, it just makes it clearer and sharper," Mr. Hill told the Boston Globe in 2004. "You'll be able to recognize an announcer's toupee more easily in HD. But in our lifetimes, the ultimate sports broadcasts will be in 3-D."
Mr. Hill is out of the country this week and unavailable for comment. But widely available 3-D TV technology isn't as far-fetched as it sounds, and some serious gains have come since Fox Sports' first tests.
Cellphones with 3-D screens are popular in Japan. Top-shelf video games such as "Halo 2" are programmed in 3-D with the expectation that 3-D playback is forthcoming.
Game consoles Xbox 360 and the upcoming Playstation 3 are made with standards that could support 3-D playback. Last year the South Korean government announced "3-D Vision 2010," an initiative to develop technology that will make 3-D the worldwide standard within four years, according to the New York Times.
A curious benefit to 3-D technology is that it allows multiple screens to be displayed simultaneously. A person watching the display from one angle can view Discovery Channel, while a person watching from another angle can watch CNN.
Television technology experts, however, are skeptical about the format.
"Seems a little premature to be talking about 3-D as the next big thing when HD is just reaching puberty," said Bruce Leichtman, president of Leichtman Research Group.
Jimmy Schaeffler, chairman and chief service officer of The Carmel Group, said the concept is attractive but will face consumer suspicion.
"I can't help but recall wearing glasses in movie theaters and at home, in several prior iterations of '3-D is the next big thing,'" he said. "Fox's new 3-D development will have to be that much better to overcome that inbred suspicion."
That Fox Sports should lead the 3-D charge is no surprise. Fox has pioneered several technological innovations in an effort to enhance the sports viewing experience. Fox uses the XMO Super SloMo camera, for example, touted as the highest-speed broadcast camera available, to demonstrate how a baseball is impacted by a bat and changes shape in mid-flight. The company also employs the StroMotion video technique, which captures a sequence of movements and allows the game director to show the exact path of a runner or the ball.
ESPN has been aggressive in the HD space, but Fox claims it is the only network developing 3-D technology. An ESPN spokesperson said the network is "evaluating" 3-D, but there's "nothing to speak of at this time."[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This article is part of TVWeek.com's High Definition newsletter, a weekly source of breaking HD news, articles and interviews written by Senior Reporter James Hibberd. [/FONT]
and who is going to watch that 
