Sky 3D soccer fails to score

As Manchester United scored its first goal against Arsenal yesterday at the Emirates Stadium, a lucky few secretly soaked up another football triumph: the world’s first football match broadcast in 3D. The game was the first live sporting event broadcast over Sky’s soon-to-launch 3D TV channel, and I was invited down to one of …

[ravenviz]

Content is key

So when do we get 3D enabled playercams?

Imagine the effect on Formula 1!

[Mike Dyne]

3D F1

I'd not yet thought of that.

My word, the onboard shots would be ridiculous!

[Annihilator]

BBC

->Imagine the effect on Formula 1!

Agreed, would be awesome - if only the Beeb would pull its finger out and at least offer it in HD. Actually, blame for this lies with FOM for not providing an HD world feed. Probably still smarting from the failure of F1 Digital+

[DrunkenMessiah]

Scary

"“It looks like Rooney is walking right at me!" one Manchester United fan called out."

A scary sight to be sure.

[Anonymous Coward]

It'll never catch on

Next thing you know they'll be making us listen to the sound through more than one loudspeaker.

[Anonymous Coward]

And?

The 3D effect will always be more pronounced the close the shot, just like it is in real life. So why do you seem surprised?

[Anonymous Coward]

There's a problem with stuff like this

Unless you're going to watch the match solidly for the duration, you're gonna want to take those specks off. Which means that glancing up a the screen when things hot up will provide nothing but a blurry squint fest.

Good tech, bad use of. Keep it in the home and at cinemas I say.

[Anonymous Coward]

150 people, none of who need...

Where (t f) do you find 150 people, none of who need spectacles to watch TV?

Or am I missing something?

[Martin]

You're missing something...

The specs are quite large and fit over normal glasses.

I wear specs and I've seen Coraline, Scrooge and Toy Story 2 in 3-D - and very effective they were too.

But for footy? can't see the point. If you really want to see it in 3-D, it's best done at the stadium.

[James Sherwood]

Re: 50 people, none of who need...

There were a few people in the pub wearing spectacles. They simply made do by slotting the 3D specs over the top of their spectacles. Perhaps opticians should launch a range of spectacles with 3D-ready prescription lenses?

[Shell]

Glasses

The fancy 3d glasses sit fine over regular glasses, but you do end up looking even more of a twit (speaking from personal experience).

[Alex-TheManfromUncle]

"Pan right and pull back. Stop…"

"...track 45 left. Stop. Enhance 15 to 23. Give me a hard copy right there.”

That is all :-)

[DuncanL]

re: "Pan right and pull back. Stop…"

That's quite possibly the geekiest comment I've ever read on The Reg...

And shame on me for knowing what the hell you're on about!

[Anonymous Coward]

oh no

I must be some kind of uber super saddo geek nerd. Because when I read it I thought.

"pfft what a lame use of a Blade Runner reference, I will have to review the comment on my blog dedicated to Blade Runner references and the review will read - Worst Blade Runner reference EVER!"

[Paul Shirley]

rugby

Going to be good for rugby matches, the set pieces are almost designed for 3D closeups. Think I'll skip the 6 Nations 3D showing and put the £12.50 ticket price towards beer in my local though ;)

[Anonymous Coward]

“It looks like Rooney is walking right at me!" one Manchester United fan called out

Sounds absolutely terrifying!

[F Cage]

Missing the point of 3D

Disappointing (but not surprised) to see that Sky have opted for the 1950s 3D gimmick of making things jump out of the screen. No wonder the writer got bored of it.

The benefit of football in 3D is to be able to gauge the trajectory of the ball.

[Gareth.]

I don't know what's worse...

Having Shrek 'walking right at me' or having Taggart 'chewing gum right next to me'.

Personally I would prefer to see Karen Brady in 3D.

[Andy Hards]

All those people who have just spent a grand or two on an HDTV

will now have to fork out that again or more on a 3DTV? There will be plenty who will I suppose but I'll be sticking with the big old grey plastuc box I've got sitting on top of the sideboard thanks. Unless I win the lottery.

[Rob]

Blimey

I spent £400, like most average people will, but your point still holds true. The average joe isn't going to want to spend another £400 that soon.

[Ian Ferguson]

Football seems pointless

I'm not sure of the advantage of 3D to the actual game of football, as the most important shots are wide shots of the whole arena. I'd be more interested in seeing this technology in action for snooker and motorsport. Seems unlikely though - even with the millions of Formula 1 fans over the world, they still haven't moved to high definition.

[Chris 168]

Incorrect Facts

The TV was LG's 47" 3D TV, sure the 3D impression may not be great with players confined to a 2D surface, but until football is played in anti-grav conditions I'm afraid thats what we're stuck with

I've read plenty of reports that say the effect was pleasing, and there seemed to be a sense of depth, but the actual gameplay of football isn't as suited to 3D as Rugby, Golf and even Snooker

Obviously negative articles score more hits though... so whatever floats your boat, Reg

[Anonymous Coward]

maybe they should have broadcast something more interesting

like a 6 hour film about a man who dies of dehydration waiting for the kettle to boil, only to go to hell and realise his kettle was never plugged in to begin with.

[tgm]

More interesting?

More interesting than Man U vs Arsenal?

Go back to WoW!

[Field Marshal Von Krakenfart]

Amazing coincidence

Yeah, the Irish location was Fagan's pub in Drumcondra, which just happens to be former taoiseach, bertie ahern’s local, that’s the same bertie ahern whose (slow selling) autobiography is also published by murdock’s publishing empire, the same ahern who is a sports columnist at the Nudes of the world , and the same murdock empire who also publish’s aherns daughter celia

Amazing coincidence isn’t it.

[Anonymous Coward]

More numbers

I wonder what the odds are... If you could supply some numbers, population of Ireland, number of Murdoch columnists, number of towns and number of pubs etc, I'm sure we could work out...

[Anonymous Coward]

Other sports would benefit

Yes football is probably not the best choice

cleverly done Darts could be terrifying :)

as mentioned Formula 1 would be amazing

specially created programmes would obviously benefit.

However 3d does have a limited audience, because using said specs for many creates headaches and nausea, no matter how good the technology is, some people just can't manage it.

I for one can easily handle polarised or red/green specs, but the shutter ones are awful after a few minutes.

Eurogamer expo saw to that. :)

and finally , do people really want 3d tv?

I await the Tenpin Masters and Weber Cup in 3d if only to get closeups of the more attractive females! :)

[Anonymous Coward]

Not for everyone

Totally agree. Also, 3D does not work at all for people like me with a squint.

Nice to see all those 'normal' people looking as daft as I have had to every day for my life for the last 35 years wearing goofy glasses. Bet they don't get the piss taken out of them as they sit in the pub having a quiet drink!

[Frostbite]

WOW!

Now even the players look like they are spitting at me!

Looking at those photo's though...........Sky should have gone to SpecSavers.

[Vitani]

Sport? Naa

Sport/ was a damned good reason to upgrade to HD, however for things like soaps and dramas HD makes little difference.

3D however is where I think the roles will be reversed.

As much as I don't want to see Peggy Mitchell's mug in HD, things like soaps and drama would work really well in 3D, espcially if they're scripted with 3D in mind. I can well imagine watching things like 24 or Heroes in 3D. Sport however, not so much.

Nature programs seem to suit both technologies rather well! Nature the best thing for technology? Whatever next!

[Anonymous Coward]

Typical example of ManUre bias

Why else pilot this system in London...

[madferret]

Arsenal v Man United...

@AC, "Why else pilot this system in London..."

Errm, because Arsenal were playing?

And it wasn't just London. Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Dublin also had the trial.

[SMFSubtlety]

3D footballers... ew

Oh god no..... you know that the players will work out where the camera's are and then spit or clear their noses in the direction of said cameras.... put you off your pints!!?!?

[LinkOfHyrule]

Content is key eh?...

...3D porn do you mean? Ball by ball coverage?

[Anonymous Coward]

Content for 3D

We all know what the best content for 3D will be.... and it's not football!!!

[Pascal Monett]

Not really impressed

From what I read here, the 3D effect really stands out in rather close-up shots. Anything with a wide angle or with great depth-of-field appears to be too much to make a difference.

So, translated to the famous notion of "content", it would mean that Desperate Housewives, with all the close-in action, would gain immensely from this technology, whereas Lord of the Rings would falter in the wide-area scenes, which are the most beautiful.

Although I'd be as happy as any other bloke to witness fine Bulgarian Airbags (tm) in full 3D, it would be a somewhat small subset of all the stuff I watch on TV. Still, it remains as good a proof as any that the only thing 3D is really going to be good for is porn.

Which probably explains why Nvidia is pushing 3D-enabled video cards with all its might. It knows that, if it is to stay relevant in the PC world, it has to master this emerging technology as best it can.

[Anonymous Coward]

Not ready for prime time

I've been watching 3D a.k.a stereo vision (its not really 3D - wait for the laser projectors) emerge for a while now and it seems that only certain shots - close-ups and objects emerging from the screen - really show off the effect. Unless we're going to have Toe-Cam [TM] we're really not going to see much benefit.

Yes I just made this comment so I could say Toe-Cam. Coat on, door out of.

[J 3]

Well...

It could have been worse, like... Cam-Toe(TM), to go with the above comments. Ouch.

[Michael Parker]

curious...

...can you wear 2 pairs of glasses for the full 6D experience?

[chose icon, coz he's wearing glasses innit]

[Skyraker]

@David England

Unless we're going to have Cam-Toe [TM] we're really not going to see much benefit.

There, fixed your post for you.

[Anonymous Coward]

Fail

I fail to see any need nor benefit for HD on televised sport, let alone 3D. You're watching a group of people playing a game, not the experience of some cinema photographer and lighting experts, not some challenging camera work or direction. It's just a game, usually watched by people wholely or at least partly under the influence - what a waste...

It's a bit like having a full multi-speaker surround system and listening to sport radio - what's the point?

[Anonymous Coward]

F1 woulld be nice...

... wimbledon ladies matches would be better.

*a certain song about butts and size plays merrily through my head*

[John 181]

What about the other sports?

Dont forget the other sports that it WILL work well with.

F1

Boxing

Cricket

Snooker

Darts

Womens Beach Vollyball

Athletics

Motor Racing

Tennis

X Games

Long distance shots are not ment to be 3D, you can make them 3D by seperating the cameras by a larger distance but the fact is the brain would not handle it well and make you sick.

Dont forget that 3D home video cameras will be comming out along with the TVs!

3D TV is the greatest thing to happen since flat screens first showed up!

Next stop, Holographics TV's

[A 20]

I'm wondering...

Would widening the separation between the two halves of the stereo cameras strengthen the 3D effect of the wide shots?

[Anonymous Coward]

One problem

Televised TV is the most boring thing I've ever experienced. The commentators are invariable over-excited or just blether nonsense constantly (or both).

3D couldn't persuade me to watch it.

I did enjoy Avatar though, so it's not like 3D TV wouldn't interest me - they just picked the wrong show.

[Bobster]

As the camera sweeps across the crowd...

Wow, that coin really looks like it's coming towards me!