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The latest issue of IEEE Spectrum has a short article about ‘Ricky Langer’, a techie at ESPN who went from Sports Fan to 3D Guru with ESPN’s recent rollout of ESPN 3D.

The initial plan for ESPN 3D, first announced a year ago, called for baby steps, says Pagano. Games would be presented in 3-D, but commercials and promotional elements would not. “But at the last minute, we were asked to pull a rabbit out of the hat,” Pagano says. That rabbit was the master control system, which integrates the sports programming with commercial and promotional segments—all in 3-D. No such system existed, so it was up to Langer and another engineer on the project to figure out how to pull it off.

Unlike with audio-video synchronization, where a little lag in the audio is hardly noticeable, viewers can pick up on even a single frame’s difference between the left and right eye in a 3-D signal. And even when the eyes are timed correctly, the signals can end up inverted, switching the foreground and the background. In that case, the viewer perceives what ought to be the foreground as appearing behind the intended background, which is out of focus.

via Dream Jobs 2011: At Work at ESPN’s Hidden Sports-Tech Paradise – IEEE Spectrum.

Hardware, Science 3d, espn, stereoscopic

The New York Times has an article on ESPN’s 3-D broadcast of the Miami Heat and the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. This is the first N.B.A. game broadcast in 3-D. As such it is interesting to note that it takes two people to operate a 3-D camera. The first person is in charge of pointing the camera to follow the action on the court. The second cameraman is called a convergence engineer. They focus the camera on the action. The article has more information on some of the challenges that are faced in shooting an N.B.A. game in 3-D:

3-D cameras have to pan slower than standard cameras, because of the more complex focus issues. In a game where the ball was moving up and down the court quickly, there were times when they could not keep up.

While I am not a huge fan of 3-D, I think that a lot of these issues will be resolved. What remains to be seen is whether consumers will watch 3-D, or is this just another fad like the 50′s and 80′s.

via : In 3-D Broadcast, Big Is Bigger, But Eyes Grow Weary

Hardware 3d, espn

At a recent event, ESPN’s Adrian Pennington spoke about their foray into 3D sports events and while they’ve committed to a full year and are planning a 2nd, they’re currently having difficulties justifying the effort required.

“Regardless of whether we continue as an event-based network or go to a 24/7 network switch to VoD, we definately have to make production efficiencies to make it work. We’ve also got to get more eyeballs looking at 3D to get some idea of acceptance in the marketplace.”

Currently they’re not found a good Return on their Investment, and the technology required is still rather specialized, expensive, and difficult to integrate into their real-time tools.  However, they are also doing a lot of research into stereoscopic 3D technologies and end-user effects.

ESPN is also to conduct a major study into depth metadata and depth analysis.

“This is major topic which impacts events downstream. For example we need to think very carefully about how we place closed captions and graphics in stereo. Do we need to develop some automated alarm which will alert us before we go to air whether a graphic is going to occlude the image? These are monumental challenges which are vital to enable us to produce good 3D.”

via Question marks over ESPN’s 3D future – main-content | TVBEurope Magazine Online & In Print.

Graphics, Science 3d, espn, stereoscopic, television

Engadget has posted an article about the Boise St./Virginia Tech matchup on ESPN 3-D the other night. In particular they describe the trials and travails of getting their 3-D TV setup (including a Mitsubishi 73-inch WD-73838) to watch the game. There was a lot that they had to go through to get ready for the game in advance, including calling Comcast to add the package to their bill, and working around an older cable box that did not support HDMI 1.4. In the end, they were very pleased with how it turned out.

It’s obvious that in 2010 3D is still an early adopter’s product, with exclusive broadcasts and movie deals still ruling the day, but once it spreads out we’d suggest grabbing a pair of glasses and checking out broadcasts in your area — for sports the experience is a worthwhile one. A new TV setup might be a bit pricey, but at a fraction of the cost of lower bowl tickets to a big game and the ability to catch the action from all around the field, we’re already looking forward to a premiere Ohio State/Miami game Saturday afternoon.

via ESPN 3D review: college football kickoff — Engadget.

Hardware 3d, espn

In a somewhat depressing decision by DirecTV and ESPN, they will not be broadcasting interlaced or frame sequential images but rather the lower-resolution “side by side”.  Frame sequential offers full HD frames for each eye, but the side-by-side simply renders both eyes into the same frame, compressing it horizontally to half the original width, allowing the TV to stretch it back to normal.

When it launches this month, DirecTV will be airing 3-D programming by using the side-by-side 3-D format. ESPN also will be airing 3-D content using a 720p, 60fps side-by-side format for its World Cup coverage.

Side by side uses the same bandwidth as standard HD transmissions and only half that of frame-sequential technology. Using 24fps, it splits the image into two frames — one for each eye. It doubles the length of each segment, and then displays those images sequentially for the shutter glasses.

I’ve seen this effect on a JVC Passive Stereo 3D TV at my office, and I’ve not been very impressed.  The result is often pixellated and blurry.

via Delivering 3-D content to the home: frame sequential vs. side by side | BE on 3-D.

Hardware 3d, directv, espn, stereoscopic