Spreety TV Online Blog

The following entertainment article was written exclusively for Spreety TV Online by professional journalist Carolyn Giardina.

UK Broadcaster Takes Lead In Bringing 3D Home

By Carolyn Giardina

The popularity of stereoscopic 3D movies – including recent hits “Up”, “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” and “G-Force” – has prompted a lot of interest in bringing the format home to TVs, computer screens, gaming platforms, mobile phones and other handheld devices.

But while the US has led 3D activity in movie theaters, UK broadcaster Sky has taken an aggressive role in getting the format into homes with a newly announced plan to launch a 3D TV channel in 2010.
The UK channel is being created to offer a broad selection of 3D programming, including movies and sports. The service will be broadcast across Sky’s existing HD infrastructure and be available via its current generation of set-top boxes.

To watch 3D, customers will also require a new ‘3D Ready’ TV, which are expected to be on sale in the UK next year. In the U.S., 3D Ready TVs have already come on the market, and 3D computer screens are on the way.

Among the challenges in the US has been the need for a steady stream of available 3D content for these devices.

Meanwhile, global standards setting body the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has been working on 3D technical standards that would enable 3D feature films and other programming to be played on all fixed devices in the home, no matter the delivery channel. The intent is to complete the standards by next summer.

Sky will be using a delivery method that is has already tested. Last April, Sky broadcast a performance by Keane live from Abbey Road Studios via the company’s satellite network to a Sky set-top box and domestic 3D Ready TV.

Said Brian Sullivan, managing director of Sky’s Customer Group: “3D is a genuinely ‘seeing is believing’ experience, making TV come to life as never before.”