3D TV no longer just for movies

Canal+ has confirmed plans to launch a 3D channel in France by the end of 2010. This follows the recent announcement from BSkyB for its 3D channel, Sky 3D, to launch in April.

There’s been a lot of hype surrounding 3D TV particularly at the last IBC and CES shows which both touted new 3D technology solutions. It’s great to see these technologies make the move from the exhibition floor to the sitting room and start to become a reality.

3D TV is becoming increasingly popular for consumers as well as industry enthusiasts, it’s high profile usage in hugely successful films such as Avatar and the upcoming Alice in Wonderland is helping to maintain the momentum as did the first live sports broadcast in 3D seen in the UK last month.

This announcement from Canal+ shows that 3D TV is not just a fad or for early adopters and will soon hit the mainstream. People are curious to see what it looks like on both the big and small screen. The only question is, will there be enough content available to meet this increasing demand.

ANT Galio HbbTV Platform shortlisted for IPTV World Series Award

Monday, 15 February 2010

We’ve already had some great success with our HbbTV proposition, deploying the first HbbTV Set Top Box with Humax and most recently with German set-top box firm CreNova Technology selecting the ANT Galio HbbTV platform. We’ve now received some more good news with it being shortlisted for an IPTV World Series Award.

The Best Hybrid Broadcast-IP Video Delivery Solution or Service award “recognises an operator, network provider, solution provider or ISP for a video delivery service or solution which supports the delivery of video over both the IP and non-IP video networks in parallel”.

Fingers crossed for 23 March 2010!

Sky Broadcast 3D Sport Live

Sky ran the world’s first live 3D sports broadcast in a handful of pubs on Sunday. I wasn’t one of the lucky few to experience Arsenal play Manchester United in 3D, but the response so far seems pretty positive.

DigitalTV.net were pretty impressed. Although, they felt it was a novelty rather than the future of TV. Mainly because of the glasses – posing the question of whether you would really wear them at home?

Digital Spy was also watching the event and noted that some elements of the broadcast worked better than others. For example, the teams walking onto the pitch looked impressive, as did the 3D graphics of the team. However, at times the players looked to be “plucked up from the surface”. So, not all positive.

I’m looking forward to experiencing a 3D live broadcast soon, which could be sooner rather than later with LG’s new LD920 3D TV, but I will still need some convincing to wear those glasses…