This article was originally published on www.display-central.com
I’m curious what other people’s experience has been with viewing the 3D Olympics. I must say, I have not been too impressed so far. It is not the quality of the 3D images so much, but rather the way the 3D coverage is being packaged, delivered and promoted. In a couple of words — it sucks.
My cable provider is Cablevision. Since it has no regular 3D service, this is the first time I have really had a chance to experience 3D at home on my 3DTV using a broadcast signal. Cablevision has a special channel set up, but unless you know where to look, you would have no idea they are even broadcasting in 3D.
What’s worse, there is no schedule of events. The set-top box channel guide lists only “Olympics in 3D” with no breakdown of what events will be shown at what times. The Website offers no additional information. How can I find and record a swimming match? I guess I have to record the entire day’s program and scan through it to find the event I want. Or, maybe I should spend all day checking to see what’s on and then hit the record button. Coverage appears to start sometime in the morning and is over by 8 p.m. Over at 8 p.m.? Isn’t that the time most people want to watch the coverage? This is ridiculous. As a result, I am watching random sporting events by recording some hours on the DVR.
Oh, and did I mention all 3D coverage is on a 24-hour delay, so any suspense about a particular sporting events outcome is going to be known, unless you take pains to avoid any Olympics news.
I have a Samsung plasma 3DTV with shutter glasses that is about two years old. This means when I tune into the 3D channel, I see a side-by-side image. Pressing the 3D button on the remote pops up a menu that allows me to select the 3D format of the content I am seeing. Choosing side-by-side puts the TV into 3D mode. There is no automatic detection of the format and flipping into 3D mode, which newer 3DTVs should do.
The display of pop-up menus is also an issue. If you want to fast forward the recording of the Olympic coverage, for example, you need to access the DVR set-top box. Doing so can create menus that vary from slightly readable to unreadable. Not a friendly user experience.
I am now ready to watch some 3D coverage of the Olympics. For the most part, the 3D shots are OK with conservative use of parallax, so most of the scenes are behind the screen with only modest amounts of out-of-screen objects.
Some of jump cuts are rough, however, and I remember one cut to a flagpole that was initially so far out in front of the screen we all went “whoa.” The operators immediately saw this (or the software automatically corrected it) to bring it back to screen depth, but it was a jarring moment.
The NBC logo hovers in the upper right-hand corner perhaps six-eight inches in front of the screen. I can see ghosting on this image. That seems to be true with most out-of-screen objects and is likely mostly a display-glasses issue.
NBC also airs annoying animations for the Lorax movie that overlay the action way too often and are interfering with the 3D effect (even if they are placed in front of the screen plane).
The commercials all seem to be in 3D, but I suspect many are converted. They run seamlessly. There is also a promotional piece on the Olympics in 3D that runs at nearly every commercial break. It is long, and you get very tired of this after awhile. Thank goodness for DVRs. This just shows there is not a lot of variety (or advertisers) in the 3D commercials running on the channel.
I am also frustrated with the real lack of promotion of the 3D Olympics. Aside from the specialty 3D groups I monitor, there has been very little to nil mainstream press coverage or promotion of the 3D telecast. As I understand it, Panasonic is basically offering the 3D coverage for free to anyone who will carry it. There has been good take-up of this offer, but consumers are not aware of it.
According one report I read about consumers who watch the BBC coverage in the UK, the opening ceremony averaged an audience of 23M (82.69%) from 9 p.m. to 12:52 a.m., while the 3D simulcast drew 111K (0.39%) from 8:50 p.m. to 12:52 a.m. on BBC HD. That’s pretty dismal.
One friend also noted that there is no live streaming of the 3D feed anywhere on the Internet — at least that he could find. Has anyone found one? Are there rights restrictions preventing this?
If the London Olympics in 3D were supposed to be an “Avatar moment,” right now it seems like a missed opportunity. Let’s see how I feel about the 3D coverage by the end of the Games.
What has been your experience?