How would we get NFL or NBA games in 3D if ......

[Anthony1]

The NFL just recently did a test with a broadcast of a recent Chargers-Raiders game in 3D. The NBA is having some of the All-Star Weekend festivities broadcast in 3D. Obviously, these are just the very beginning stages for these leagues to seriously consider 3D broadcasts, but lets say that eventually they decide they want to really do 3D broadcasts.

How would we get the signal?


Would it require us to have new, special cable boxes? For example, if we currently have Direct TV, and two years from now the NFL starts broadcasting games in 3D, would we need a new satellite receiver from Direct TV that would be compatible?


If the answer is yes, then broadcasts of NFL and NBA games will be very far off into the future, cause I don't see Direct TV or Comcast or anybody like that really giving a damn. If somehow, it could be embedded in a digital sub channel, of a regular over the air HDTV broadcast, then I could see how we might be able to get it via CBS or ABC or FOX or whatever, but even then would we need OTA HDTV tuners that would have some special equipment in them?

Sorry if this is a really dumb question, I'm totally clueless about this stuff.

[Welder]

I think that the chips inside of televisions would do this job of displaying the 3D. Probably not the cable boxes

[Anthony1]

I think that the chips inside of televisions would do this job of displaying the 3D. Probably not the cable boxes

Yeah, but how do you actually get the signal to the TV?



For example, right now, when we watch a NFL game or NBA game on TV, the broadcast sends certain information over the airwaves, or via satellite or cable, and the set top box recieves that information, descrables it or whatever, and then passes along the aplicable information to the TV, so it can display the picture. No S3D information is being sent along with the rest of the broadcast right now. In the future, if the NFL and FOX TV decided they were actually going to broadcast games in S3D, how would they actually send the S3D information so that our TV sets would be able to receive that information and understand it?

[Welder]

hmm good point.

[funkee]

It's not a stupid question, but the answer is rather simple. The battle of standardization is not finished yet, but H264 streams hold many options to add extra information. This extra information may be as simple as a second videostream (for your right view, for instance) or metadata like depth,occlusions, stuff like that to regenerate the second video stream. And anything in between. Systems like H264 have been built to carry multiple streams like that. The questions is just, how and what information streams exactly are you going to package?

[Anthony1]

My main question is whether it's going to require new Set Top Boxes for people to be able to watch the 3D content. Is my current Direct TV receiver going to work as is? Will it need some kind of firmware update? Or will I need a "3D enabled" Direct TV Receiver.


If everybody is going to need a "3D enabled" set top box, rather than the one they got right now, then I honestly don't see this happening for a very long time. People aren't going to be jumping for joy at the thought of having to switch out their current Comcast HD box or whatever.

A NBA guy commented recently that the NBA All-Star festivities are going to be in 3D, and they will be broadcast to a number of 3D theaters around the country for a test run, and that nationwide broadcasts would soon follow in another year or so, so it seems like the NBA is very interested in making the whole S3D thing happen, unless this guy was talking out of his ass. Still, I'm trying to figure out how they actually deliver the S3D signal to our TV's, without changing out every Satellite receiver or cable set top box in existence.