Sky Sports Demos 3D

By Kevin Hilton
SVG Europe Editor

The move towards 3D among sports broadcasters is gaining momentum in Europe, with Sky Sports this week (Dec. 16-17) showing examples of major sporting events shot stereoscopically. These included boxer Ricky Hatton’s most recent fight, the Champions League football match between Liverpool and Marseille and New Zealand’s drubbing of England in international rugby competition.

A mirror rig was used to shoot the footage, which was shown on a 3D screen using a standard Sky HD set-top box. A spokesman for Sky Sports says this showed the receivers are “future-proof” and subscribers would need only to buy a new TV set to receive 3D pictures.

Production and development for the 3D tests was handled in-house by Sky. The spokesman says there is as yet no commercial deadline for fuller services using the technology.