T&A: As trends go, the success of recent 3-D movies like Avatar and Up, makes for a compelling reason for TV networks to jump on the bandwagon. Sports network ESPN has announced that it will launch the world’s first 3-D TV network called ESPN 3-D.

A 3-D production camera used by ESPN for the Ohio State college football telecast taken on Sept 12, 2009 in the Ohio Stadium in Columbus (a.k.a. The Horseshoe).

The first planned telecast is the 2010 FIFA World Cup match between South Africa and Mexico on June 11, and will follow up with 24 World Cup matches in 3-D over the following weeks. The network plans to broadcast a minimum of 85 live sporting events on the channel over the year.

Other planned 3-D broadcasts include the 2011 BCS National Championship Game, college basketball and football contests.

Separately, Reuters reported that documentary network Discovery has joined ranks with Sony Corp and IMAX to launch a dedicated 3-D channel in the US in 2011. Expect the three-way partnership network to feature documentaries in natural history, space, exploration and adventure.

Despite all these announcements from the different networks, you might wonder if viewers at home are equipped with the right tools to enjoy the 3-D experience at all. Basically, TV sets need to be 3-D ready and viewers need special glasses to merge the stereoscopic signals from these broadcasts. Until we hear more, the jury’s out on this one for now.

Paolo Manzano, Managing Editor, HWM Philippines

Paolo (HWM Philippines): 3-D TV is an interesting concept. I have personally seen a rough approximation of the technology thanks to NVIDIA’s 3-D Vision. I imagine that the experience, in this case, would be roughly the same.

However, at least in the context of the Philippines, 3-D is quite a long time away for the mainstream consumer. As it is, while LCD and even LED panels have been enjoying brisk sales, the impetus towards providing consumers with massive HD content in the form of affordable Blu-ray players and consoles, media such as Blu-ray discs and games, as well as the all important HD TV broadcasts are still in infancy and lacking far behind what is available in developed countries. This needs to catch up first before consumers can even begin thinking of a world in 3-D.

Another barrier of entry is pricing, not only of the panels, but also of the glasses needed to create the effect. The initial costs for a family of five to enjoy a 3-D movie on Saturday nights are staggering, with perhaps the TV coming in at USD$2,500 to USD$3,000 and the glasses being priced at around USD$100-150 each.

This does not include the costs of enjoying media such as a live 3-D broadcast or a set top box that can actually read and decode the necessary signals needed for the effect.

Monsters vs. Aliens is DreamWorks' foray into full-on stereo-3-D-only animation production. Time will tell if 3-D films can curtail the worsening piracy problem in the industry.

T&A: Time.com published an article where it interviewed some of the leading directors and producers of Hollywood today, including Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Jeffrey Katzenberg, on the future of films and film-making with advances in stereoscopic 3-D technology today.

While the article explored the various flights, flops and follies of older stereoscopic 3-D incarnations over the years (the current one is the 8th), it also talked about recent moves to convert older blockbusters like Titanic, Toy Story and Star Wars into 3-D, and the intense hype built around upcoming 3-D films like James Cameron’s Avatar, Jeffrey Katzenberg’s Monsters vs. Aliens (which opens this month) and Steven Spielberg/Peter Jackson’s Tintin.

Unlike previous incarnations of stereoscopic 3-D, the current tech now enables viewers to don polarized 3-D glasses instead of the dorky colored ones, while film-makers have now perfected the camera systems to film it.

To many, this may seem like the next big paradigm shift after sound and color invaded cinema screens. Studios are hopeful that this would also curtail piracy, as it is harder for digital camera-toting moviegoers to film and distribute it widely to pirate-users at home, who may need the right 3-D glasses and proper hardware just to experience stereoscopic 3-D. (Editor opinions: 1) (more…)