Sky reveal 3D TV experiments – AVForums get a sneak peek..

[Phil Hinton]

On Wednesday the 17th of December I attended SKY TV’s London production facilities to get a special treat. I wasn’t made aware of exactly what I was going to see until about 10 minutes before my demo. I had attended thinking we were going to cover some of the existing technology and maybe do a podcast or video. So when I heard that I was about to see some 3D TV I was extremely interested in seeing what it would be like and completely sceptical that it would be any good.

As we all know, 3D technology has been around in the cinema world for a long time now, with the usual gimmick of the hand flying out of the screen or the giant shark appearing to hang in front of you. But the effects of the technology in the past have also been seen as pretty fake in realism terms. However I was happy to hear that the R&D team, along with the production staff at Sky certainly don’t want that old 60/70’s idea of items flying out of the screen at us, so maybe this will look ok?

First of all and something that made the use of the technology very appealing is that any SKY HD box can pick up, store and playback the 3D content. This content is broadcast using two HD bandwidth channels from the main transmission centre at Sky’s HQ and they are actively researching this technology and refining how it might work.

Indeed let’s get this extremely clear, SKY are NOT releasing any 3D channels yet, they are looking at the technology, testing how it might work within the broadcast environment and ultimately how it might look to end users. This is certainly the first time Sky have ever opened up their R&D division to the press and demonstrated anything at such an early stage.

So how does it work?

The advance in camera technology as well as the breakthroughs in post production and transmission will allow a 3D signal to be broadcast and played back on a 3D spec TV. These TVs are currently available in Japan but we expect to see many more announced for the US and UK markets at this years CES. This was one reason why Sky opened its doors, so when we see this new tech at CES, we can rest assured that Sky are actually working on bring it to market, and it won’t cost as much as many may think.

The TV used for the demo had a polarising panel fitted to its screen technology and to see 3D pictures you wear a set of glasses which also have a polarising layer to help the eyes pick up each image for the correct playback. These glasses can be designed in any way you like as long as they have the correct polarising lens, which are clear in colour.

The images are received by a normal SKY HD box and fed to the TV by normal means, but the image it displays is a mixture of two separate images which create a 3D image when used with the glasses.

The most difficult process with this technology is actually at the production level and not at the consumer. Indeed all a consumer will need to enjoy this potential content is a SKY HD box, a 3D TV and a set of glasses.

However the production of the programmes will create a few more challenges for the crews producing the content. But SKY has already fully tested their proposed shooting rigs at some big sporting events as well as with in house productions such as Gladiators.

The cameras used are High Definition cameras, but special rigs need to hold these in specifically aligned positions. This ensures that the images are captured as two separate pictures simultaneously. One method uses two cameras which sit directly next to each other with the lenses 6cm apart, roughly the same distance of human eyes. The two separate feeds (or recordings) need to be exactly time stamped from a single synchronised clock to ensure that both images are indeed displayed simultaneously during playback.

The next step requires the two images to be edited so that the colours match exactly, and any small discrepancies of image position and scale are corrected. Depth can also be manually manipulated to enhance or control the 3D image. These techniques help to avoid any rapid movements between differing depths and focus points, which can cause a feeling of sickness or eye strain with some viewers.

Once the captured images have been through the post production cycle, they need to be delivered into the home and onto the TV. This requires significant bandwidth – essentially the equivalent of two HD feeds.

This is where SKY is in a position to make this technology work. The current generation of SKY HD boxes already have the necessary processing power to be able to both receive the 3D encoded material, and store or deliver them to a 3D ready TV. SKY customers would therefore only need to purchase a new TV set to take advantage of the technology when and if it is finally released as a format.

Sky are set to continue their development and to liase with the industry and consumers to understand if there is a market demand for such programming. They will also continue to develop how they capture and transmit the signals.

How does it look?

So after a look at the transmission suite where the programs are broadcast from and the small area dedicated to the test transmissions, we headed for the viewing room to see exactly what it looks like.

Inside the viewing room were two Japanese 3D capable TVs with polarisation layers and we were given a set of clear polarised glasses to view with. The content was stored on a normal SKY HD box in the planner section which had been captured from the test broadcasts. There was no other technology involved in making this demonstration work, no hidden PC racks or curtains hiding a full 19” rack of processing units, it was all from just a normal SKY HD box.

The material used was a montage of Rugby, football, boxing and scenes from Gladiators. Each clip had been captured using the 3D camera Rigs, with the sports footage caught live. There was also a demonstration of a SKY advert which had been transferred from 2D to 3D.

The main montage of 3D captured images from a Liverpool game was very good indeed. There is certainly none of the fake stunts of objects flying towards you. Instead the effect is like the TV screen extending backwards, giving you a feeling of looking into a viewing box. This is a stunning effect which creates some breathtaking images, but which can also still look a little fake. The shots that really work well involved scenes where sharp edges where not quite as clinically sharp as with scenes such as crowds. In the crowds it was almost like several layers of super sharp images had been laid over the top of each other, with edges looking false and overly sharp.

When I raised this point, the reply which was extremely valid, pointed out that the tech is still very new and the traditional 2D camera operators and producers are still trying to figure out exactly what the limitations are. Indeed they have had to re-evaluate exactly how they shoot their footage, like live sporting events where in 2D they chase the ball, whereas with 3D it’s about lingering on the action more. Indeed some of the Liverpool footage where the illusion of depth worked looked stunning! There was one example with a side view from touchline to touchline, where the ball is crossed from the far wing, to Gerrard in the box. The flight of the ball and the sense of depth was like sitting in row G. Gerrard then heads the ball into the goal and the crowd erupts and again the sense of depth as he runs away from us towards the fans on the far side is really good.

However other footage looked a little strange, such as Ricky Hatton being interviewed where cameramen are standing in the foreground of the shot, just out of the focal plane and they look like they are CGI effects due to over sharpness. However I am sure that the production guys at SKY will get to grips with these small issues I found, as they experiment and perfect their 3D capture techniques.

Overall, this wasn’t a product launch, but more a look at what SKY can do with the 3D technology now and how they might be able to introduce such a service should the 3D market develop over the coming months and years. I was suitably impressed with what was shown and the fact that SKY could quite easily deliver these services in the future.

It will now give us more to think about at CES next month where we should see even more 3D technology being unwrapped.

[mabo]

It certainly sounds like an interesting development and it's nice to hear that such a company is looking into its uses. I just wonder if the potential pitfalls will outweigh the benefits and thus make it unsuitable for the majority of footage/programmes.

[Jonstone]

Given the need for a new television to make use of these broadcasts and the fact that a lot of people have only just upgraded to hd ready tv's and the current economic climate I can't see there being a huge market for this in the near future.

There is however one other possible plus for this technology that I can see.

Given that the viewer is basically watching two hd channels at the same time, one in each eye, would it not be possible to have two sets of glasses, one with one type of polorising lense and the other with the opposite polorising lens so that two people could watch different 2d channels in the same room on the same tv at the same time.Attatch headphones to the glasses for individual sound. I would possibly be more interested in that possibility than 3d tbh

[ykhan16]

Hurray @ additional £10 month subscription! =D

Sounds good tho- hope it all comes to fruitition.

[damianpadden]

main reason is bacuse when avatar hits the cinema in 3D everyone is going to go mental and want 3D in their homes. I give it 5 years before we say good bye to our tvs we have all just bought.

[maltezer]

I think that they'd be better directing their efforts to get the HD working correctly before starting on something else.

[eric pisch]

gimmick for kids and to impress your mates once, will go the way of video phones and the mini cd

who wants to wear a pair of special glasses just to watch tv, muppets. extra great for people who have to wear glasses anyway you know have 2 sets on, just a rubbish idea.

its bad enough trying to wade through the handfuls of remotes on an av system gives you let alone trying to find everyone there special specs

and all the 3d systems i have tried make me sick after about 15 mins

[joshua_bond]

All we need is Mitshibushi to release those laser tvs (which incidently are 3d capable) in the uk...at sensible prices!!!

[blicky_1]

I wonder who will make the 'Sky 3hD' box, lets hope it's not Thomson

[brownieeyes]

i seen this reported on sky news, and to be honest i couldnt tell the difference..they had a split screen presentation that looked exactly the same...it never said which was 3d and which was ordinary sky though..

[Jonstone]

Originally Posted by brownieeyes

i seen this reported on sky news, and to be honest i couldnt tell the difference..they had a split screen presentation that looked exactly the same...it never said which was 3d and which was ordinary sky though..

Well you wouldn't see any difference if you don't have a 3d tv, not sure why they do these pointless side by sides

[jcls]

Where are the early adopters

How can you not want 3D telly

Enjoyed the Beeb's trials of Enders etc, never mind the silly glasses.
20 years ago though ! that's scary.

[dunks517]

Do you think we'll have 51. audio via HDMI or even a new EPG before then? Just think another Tenner a month for the '3D Sub'!

[Welsh Whirlwind]

Originally Posted by dunks517

Do you think we'll have 51. audio via HDMI or even a new EPG before then?

Hear. Hear.

Sort out the basics first Sky, jeez...

[eric pisch]

Originally Posted by dunks517

Do you think we'll have 51. audio via HDMI or even a new EPG before then? Just think another Tenner a month for the '3D Sub'!

an eternal optimist