The BBC is set to test screen the upcoming Rugby Six Nations match between Scotland and England in high-definition (HD) AND 3D. The broadcast, developed both by BBC Resources and the3DFirm, will be the first ever LIVE test screening of an international sport in 3D HD. The match will take place on March 8.
“We’re trying to do something no-one’s tried before and bounce dual HD signals around and re-encode them as a 3D experience,” said Chandarana, BBC Sport innovations executive. He added, “Editorially it will not be a fast-cut TV experience but more the experience you’d get if you were at Murrayfield. (The location of the match)
Now for us Americans, this may not seem like something to look forward to, but imagine if the NFL playoffs were going to be broadcast in 3D? In 2007 the NBA partnered with PACE to test broadcast a game in 3D HD, however the footage was not live. Maybe it’s coming next year to the U.S., but for now we’ll have to settle for U2 in 3D.
Correction: It was noted by an NBA/PACE representative that an NBA game on Feb. 18, 2007 in the U.S. was successfully transmitted in 3D/HD, live to a private audience at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas. PACE also partnered with the NBA to transmit in 3D/HD the first public viewing of a game to 16,000 fans in San Antonio and Cleveland on June 10, 2007.