Of 64 matches of the world championship 25 will be shown in 3D

The 2010 World Cup currently taking place in South Africa may be the first championship in the history of football, which will be remembered by the fans not only by the already-worn vuvuzelas, but also as the first championship, out of 64 matches of which 25 will be broadcast in 3D to the whole world. The organizers also promise that in a three-dimensional form all the most spectacular and exciting moments of football matches will be available.

Having successfully tested the soil in the January match between Arsenal and Manchester United, this summer 3D-TV decided to make a really massive invasion of the stadiums, using the international championship in South Africa as an excuse. Five out of ten stadiums that will host football matches in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth will be equipped with all the necessary television equipment for 3D sports broadcasting, so that the most interesting matches of the final tournament will be available to viewers in bulk.

These matches, as well as the opening of the championship and the award ceremony, will be shown on giant 3D screens installed in the seven largest cities of the planet - Berlin, London, Mexico City, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome and Sydney. The rights to 3D-broadcast of the games were bought by the American television network ESPN and the Spanish Sogecable, the Swiss company Aruna Media AG will display three-dimensional football competitions in cinema halls.

A little background

For several years, leading sports channels have been broadcasting in HD-format - the same Sky Corporation has a special Sky HD channel specializing in high-definition broadcasts. The domestic satellite provider NTV + also has several HD sports channels in its subscription. Now, viewers in Europe have access to the new Sky 3D channel, which began broadcasting in April this year. “Sky 3D” is supported by conventional HD tuners, that is, Sky HD subscribers only have to purchase 3D TVs - the list of supported devices includes models from Sony, Samsung, LG and Panasonic.

In our country and neighboring countries, as we already wrote , the Platform HD company provides such an opportunity, which in addition to broadcasting regular HD channels, also began selling equipment to view its channel with 3D content. Samsung is in this project a supplier of equipment for home users - 3D-TVs and glasses for them.

Technical points

Separately, I want to note the fact that there are two options for viewing 3D content using the equipment of our company: either buy a regular TV with HD format support and a suitable scan frequency, or buy a TV with a built-in function for converting an image into 3D from 2D, which allows you to add volume even to an ordinary picture, due to the built-in processor specially developed for these purposes.

In the first option, viewing 3D video will be possible only in a ready-made form, that is, either from a player / flash drive, or from a satellite channel, or from services such as youtube or vimeo, on which it is already possible to download and process 3D videos ( link ).

In the second version, the same football broadcasts can be converted in real time in 3D, and enjoy the effect online. According to the developers of the company, this mode was specifically honed precisely at sports broadcasts, where the TV processor can process the incoming stream with the highest quality and error-free. By the way, at the moment this is the only opportunity to watch football in 3D format at the same time as other fans, since the organizers of 3D broadcasting from the 2010 World Cup have so far failed to resolve the issue of live broadcasts.

Interesting Facts

ESPN, the largest sports channel in the United States, has entered into agreements with three major advertisers, including Procter & Gamble, Sony and Disney Pixar, to display 3D ads during broadcast matches. For the ESPN All-American Sports Channel, the upcoming commercials will be the largest commercial 3D ad placement.

ESPN says that for advertisers three-dimensional advertising opens up previously unattainable opportunities to interact with the audience. However, the prices for such advertising are appropriate: depending on the match, they range from 500 thousand dollars to 1 million dollars, which is 30-40% more than for regular advertising.

In Russia, 3D advertising is also not far behind, the traffic police, in the framework of the social network "Last Oncoming", the main purpose of which is to warn drivers about the dangers of going into the oncoming lane, was ordered a 3D social advertising clip, analogues of which are not yet in Russia It was. It will be shown in cinemas before showing 3D films, which is logical. I would like to believe that the money spent on this innovative project will be beneficial.

It is also known that after shooting is completed, realistic games for consoles will be created on the basis of three-dimensional models. Representatives of the organizers say that now there is a technical coordination of broadcasting details.