Three new networks are addressing 3D broadcasting's elephant in the room — the lack of good content.
Three new networks are addressing 3D broadcasting's elephant in the room — the lack of good content.
If you were around during the launch of high-def TV, you may remember an interesting phenomenon: People with HDTVs became oddly knowledgeable about esoteric topics, such as the migratory patterns of North American birds or the concept of Dark Matter.
That’s because when the first HDTVs arrived, people starved for native high-def content were all tuned into Discovery HD, one of the few networks broadcasting it. The situation is a little different now that 3D TVs have arrived. There’s actually a decent amount of 3D content — beyond 3D Blu-ray movies, there are now three full-time HD networks. You don't have to settle for the drama of seabird flight.
What you’ll get, however, depends on your service provider. Luckily I have DirecTV, which has staked its claim with 3D enthusiasts by offering all three full-time 3D networks: n3D, a channel the satellite company launched in partnership with Panasonic; ESPN 3D, a which went 24/7 just a few months ago; and 3net, from Discovery, Sony and IMAX, the newest 3D channel to arrive.
I checked out the 3D networks using a 50-inch Panasonic VT25-series 1080p 3D TV, paired with a set of first-generation Panasonic 3D glasses. All the programming was fed to the TV using DirecTV’s HR24 HD DVR outputting 3D in the side-by-side format. Here’s what I found:
If you've looked at the Panasonic cameras being used, for example in the U.S. Open, it is not hard to see why the 3D image is not all that compelling. When I am watching tennis match from one end of the court or the other, then the 3D effect is minimal. Were I there live and in person, watching with two eyes or with one eye covered wouldn't be dramatically different either. So the best 3D is left to the special effects generated by the network in between real play. I may change my mind later, but for 3D to have a real impact, the processing has to be more than a "View Master" experience.