Sky prepares to take television into the third dimension Satellite

Sunday Herald, The, Dec 21, 2008 by Peter John Meiklem Media Correspondent

I'VE seen the future - and it required donning a set of geeky, blackrimmed Jarvis Cocker-style glasses.

But these specs are no fashion statement. They are the key to another dimension: a crucial part of the kit Sky television engineers are using to take 3D pictures out of the cinema and into our living rooms.

Although the technology is still in its infancy, British Sky Broadcasting claimed a UK first by demonstrating the new form of TV to a select group of journalists at its research and development lab last week.

The Sunday Herald was the only Scottish newspaper invited to view a series of specially filmed clips including Ricky Hatton boxing, the All Blacks thrashing England at Twickenham, a Liverpool FC match and action shots from the broadcaster's key entertainment brand, Gladiators.

Then the researchers projected 3D images of the gathered hacks through the special camera set up in the corner of the room.

The result: at least one gasp of delighted surprise from a journalist to my left and, for me, a pounding headache from the off.

The aptly named Brian Lenz, Sky's head of product design and innovation, was not to be daunted by sore heads among the audience. He says the technology is in its earliest stage of development and that the problem - for both designers and audience - will diminish over time.

Says Lenz: "The classic way people think of 3D is that old cinema trick, or optical illusion, where they throw something out at you. That's not what we are trying to do. We are trying to create something that adds to the experience of watching the television. We are interested in the kind of technology that will improve the storytelling, not poke you in the eye with a stick."

Lenz stresses that Sky is nowhere near rolling the technology out to consumers, claiming it could take it as long as two years to get to that stage. But the fact Sky has been confident enough to showcase its work-in-progress shows the level of faith the company has already placed in it. After highdefinition (HD) screens, and when TV schedules are scrapped and all programmes are available on- demand, Sky hopes that 3D TV will become the next must-have consumer item.

Perhaps letting slip the real reason for last week's showcase, Lenz says: "We still have to ascertain whether there is a market out there. We need demand to build a business model upon. Is it big enough for us to begin exploiting?"

The technology works by shooting two versions of each event, one for each eye. Viewers then have to wear dedicated polarising spectacles which make sure the right image is being watched by the right eye. The end result is the optical illusion that the image on the screen is in three dimensions. The figures at the front of the screen reach out towards you; those at the back sink back behind the television set.

Sky says no product launch is imminent but stressed the accessibility of its new technology. The signal is broadcast through a normal sports channel and uses a Sky HD set-top box to translate the 3D signal onto television.

The supply of content for 3D productions is growing. Leading Hollywood animation company Pixar, which made The Incredibles, and Dreamworks, which made Shrek, has said all its fi lms will now be produced in 3D. In the US, various companies have shown American football matches in 3D cinemas and the BBC broadcast a rugby match in the same way in March.

In Japan - where new technology is often implemented first - one channel broadcasts around half an hour of 3D content every day.

Hilary Perchard, Sky's director of product management, adds: "3D TV is a demonstration of the exciting things we can do with HD digital television. It is an example of just one of the things we can do in the future. We are already at the demonstration stage and the signal is coming through an ordinary set-top box. That is awesome."

Marie Bloomfield, video and digital expert with media analyst Screen Digest, isn't so sure.

She says the technology will remain "niche" and is unlikely to make any real effect on the market for another fi ve years. Says Bloomfi eld: "We don't expect 3D-ready TV sets to proliferate for another five years. This year, and next year, people are replacing their television sets and the replacement cycle is around six years. You can't use an existing digital television for the kind of experience they are talking about. 3D TV is really a long way away.

"Even it becomes a default feature on the next generation of televisions people are not going to want to watch all their television in three dimensions.

People will want to see some feature films and some sports. Nobody is going to want to watch EastEnders in 3D."

Bloomfield says there are competing forms of 3D TV fighting to make it to market. In Brazil, Spanish telecoms company Telefonica is experimenting with a different form of TV that does not require its audience to wear special glasses but is harder to shoot film for and costs more. "That could take even longer to reach the market, maybe 10 years, " adds Bloomfield.