Crap In 3-D Is Still Crappy

In broadcasting the world's first live 3-D football game to theaters in Los Angeles, New York and Boston on Thursday evening, the NFL promises an "up close, personal, visceral" experience that could open a new revenue stream for the league. Oh, and did we mention it's a battle between the 4-8 San Diego Chargers and the 3-9 Oakland Raiders?

The screenings for team owners, producers and journalists will use technology developed by 3ality Digital. And how did the company get the ear of the NFL? The main investor is the family of Art Modell, owners of the Baltimore Ravens from 1996 to 2004.

"We are merely doing a test for our friends at the NFL to show them definitively that this digital 3-D technology is now...This is not something we're hoping will happen. This is now." Nice to see a friendly demo get so much attention in the press.

Eight 3-D camera crews will sidle up to 2-D counterparts to catch the game tonight. The 2-D crews will work on behalf of the NFL Network, while the 3-D crews will work for the test broadcast, which will have its own commentators. 3-D viewers must don polarized lenses to see the action. A transition to regular broadcasts of 3-D sports events is not expected soon. Despite the concern about costs, Fox Sports plans to do a 3-D broadcast itself of college football's BCS National Championship in January to about 150 digital theaters nationwide, though details have yet to be worked out.

By the end of 2008, an estimated 2 million U.S. TV sets will be capable of handling 3-D signals, about 2 percent of the nation's estimated 114.5 million TV homes. The NFL is not exploring making theater broadcasts regularly available in the way that documentary filmmakers and concert promoters have increasingly been offering their material at digital theaters. But that doesn't mean the sports world isn't looking at the technology. In an experiment last year, Pace, a company co-founded by director James Cameron, showed a live 3-D transmission of the NBA All-Star game in Las Vegas and followed up with a 3-D transmission of Game 2 of the NBA finals between the San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban also hosted a 3-D transmission of a game between the Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs at theaters in Dallas in March.