3DTV or not 3DTV

I also attended a panel discussion Wednesday at the Sports Business Journal forum (see this post) about the present and future of 3D sports television that included top tech guys from the likes ESPN, CBS, MSG, YES, the NBA and Comcast.

The consensus: The growth of the technology is inevitable, but we still are a few years away from it becoming ubiquitous, in part because the costs are prohibitive for now.

Several panelists compared the situation to the slow evolvement of HDTV, which now has become a staple of 21st century sports viewing.

One added challenge of 3D compared to HD is that producers and directors have to figure out how best to use the feature, which is most effective from low angles and with limited cuts.

That is not the way games usually are telecast, nor is it the best way to see what is going on in the big picture of a game.

Sports usually is a key driver of new TV technologies, but in the case of 3D, it is possible video games and movies will be the first uses to entice new viewers.