More than 14,000 fans at the Quicken Loans arena in Cleveland watched a live 3D broadcast of Game 2 of the 2007 NBA finals when the Cleveland Cavaliers took on the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio.
(Credit: NBA)The NBA is teaming up with Turner Sports and Cinedigm Digital Cinema to broadcast live in 3D its All-Star Saturday Night events to 80 movie theaters across the U.S. on February 14.
The Live 3D event will be shown on up to 160 screens in 35 states across the country. Pricing for the tickets hasn't been set yet, but a representative from Cinedigm, the technology company behind the event, told the Los Angeles Times that tickets will likely sell for between $18 and $22 a pop.
This isn't the first event that the NBA has broadcast live in 3D. In 2007, it held special viewing parties in Las Vegas for the NBA All-Star 2007 events. And for Game 2 of the NBA finals in 2007, the Cleveland Cavaliers set up a 3D "theater" in the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland so that 14,000 fans could watch the Cavaliers play the San Antonio Spurs on four 60-foot screens. Also, in 2008, the Dallas Mavericks delivered a live 3D coverage of a game to a theater in Dallas to 500 fans.
"Taking the 3D experience nationwide is the next step," said Steve Hellmuth, executive vice president of technology and operations for the NBA. "It gives fans a chance to watch the NBA like never before."
Other sports leagues also see the potential in airing games in 3D. Last week, the NFL broadcast its Thursday night game between the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders in 3D to three theaters in Los Angeles, Boston, and New York as part of an invitation-only event to show off the technology. Fox Sports also said last week that it plans to air college football's Bowl Championship Series title game in 3D in theaters. And the network also hopes to air the Daytona 500 in 3D.
Right now these 3D viewing events all take place in theaters. But Hellmuth thinks that in the future 3D viewing might actually become more common in the home. TV makers are already starting to produce 3D capable sets. And more are expected next year as movies filmed in 3D come to DVD and Blu-Ray.
"What will really drive 3D into the home will be movies filmed in 3D," Hellmuth said. "And once there is more content, I think that makes the business case more compelling for delivering sports in 3D to the home."
The biggest hurdle right now for 3D content is the expense. It's not only expensive to shoot films or live events in 3D, but it's also expensive to deliver live broadcasts. Delivering live sports in 3D to homes on a regular basis would mean that paid TV providers like cable operators, satellite providers, and the phone companies, would have to upgrade their networks to accommodate these streams of content. Regular standard definition television broadcasts consume more bandwidth capacity than other types of traffic like audio or text. High-definition video eats up even more. And Hellmuth said it would likely take at least two full high-definition channels to broadcast live just one game in 3D.
But as service providers, like Verizon, deploy more fiber in their networks, capacity issues could be overcome. Still, it could take years for other providers, such as cable operators, to build the necessary capacity.
In the meantime, sports fans will likely be able to see some games and big sporting events in 3D in 3D-capable theaters. But Hellmuth said he doesn't expect regular season games to be shown in this way, simply because it would cost too much. But for big events, such as playoff or championship games, he believes there is a place for 3D broadcasts in theaters.
"There are certain events where people want to feel a sense of community," he said. "And I think that's when people will go to a theater to watch a game in 3D."
This makes sense. Most people watch regular season games in the comfort of their own home. But they often congregate somewhere for the really big games. Isn't that why there's always a crowd in the local sports bar during the World Series or why people have Super Bowl parties?
If you thought that watching football in high definition seemed more realistic, just wait until you can view a game in 3D.
Next week the National Football League is broadcasting live in 3D a game between the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders to theaters in Los Angeles, New York, and Boston. The event, to be held December 4, is a demonstration to show how the technology can be used to provide a more realistic experience in a theater or in the home.
The NFL has invited representatives from consumer electronics companies to view the event in an effort to drum up support. In addition to showing the game on a big 3D screen, the demonstration will include television displays to show what could be possible in people's homes, The Wall Street Journal reported. Some consumer electronics makers have already begun making 3D television sets, mostly to accommodate DVDs that are available in 3D. But the industry is still working on standards for 3D.
Just as live sports entertainment has pushed the adoption of high-definition TVs, it could also help drive standards efforts and adoption of 3D TVs.
Burbank-based 3ality Digital will shoot the game with special 3D cameras and transmit the game via satellite service to the three theaters. Real D 3D is providing the displays in the theaters and is overseeing production and transmission of the 3D broadcast.
This isn't the first time that the NFL has demonstrated 3D technology. In 2004, it filmed the Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers in 3D. Sandy Climan, the CEO of 3ality, told The Wall Street Journal that when he shows the footage from the taped 3D Super Bowl, "people crouch down to catch the ball. It's as if the ball is coming into your arms."
Even though other live events like operas and circuses have been broadcast live in 3D to theaters around the country, the event on December 4 will be the first time that the NFL has broadcast a game live using the technology.
Microsoft and Akamai Technologies are teaming up on high-definition video streaming efforts for PCs, the companies said Tuesday.
Akamai plans to release a beta service, AdaptiveEdge Streaming for Microsoft Silverlight, early next year to select media customers. It will run on Windows Server 2008 with Microsoft's Silverlight media player.
The move comes as broadband increasingly becomes a fixture in homes and as consumer expectations grow for smooth-running video on PCs. The clarity of HD images is also in video on PCs.
Microsoft will bring its new Web server technology, Internet Information Services 7.0 Smooth Streaming (IIS7.0), to the table. It is designed to let people view video streams with instant start-up times and without the play-and-pause jerkiness that can come with buffering. The technology aims to provide smooth streaming video by making real-time adjustments to changes in connectivity speeds.
Akamai plans to market the service to media companies worldwide. It will eventually become a feature of the IIS7 Media Pack.
"We've seen firsthand the growing demand for HD online content among our customer base," Tim Napoleon, Akamai's digital media chief strategist, said in a statement.
He noted that images broadcast over the television offer the same consistent quality for all viewers, but that such is not the case with streaming video on PCs. Each viewer may have a different experience on a computer, depending on connectivity speeds at any given moment.
The announcement comes after Microsoft unveiled plans two weeks ago for its Silverlight 2 media player. The new version carries features such as deep zoom, enhancements to cross-platform support, and support for digital rights management.
Right now I think the No. 1 thing worth watching on Hulu is the stellar Season 2 premiere of AMC's Mad Men--regrettably, the NBC-News Corp. joint venture hasn't been able to secure the rights to any other episodes of the ad-industry drama.
But there's more that's new on Hulu, the company said in an e-mail statement Tuesday. It's revamping its high-definition offerings in a new release of its "HD Gallery" section, with episodes of current NBC shows like 24, 30 Rock, Heroes, and The Office. As part of a special promotion, they're temporarily ad-free.
It's the first time the site has offered full-length TV shows in the 720p format, the statement explained. But it's important to keep in mind that not all hi-def Web video is created equal.
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