Journalists with Sports New York (SNY) gained a sneak peak at 3D TV in action after Comcast Cable gave them a demo of the technology they will use at this months Masters golf tournament. Comcast technicians brought three units for the demo. A passive 3D TV made by LG, an active 3D TV made by Sony, and a 3D ready laptop. Both passive and active technologies must have viewers to wear glasses, but with passive 3D, a whole lot of the work is achieved by the TV and the glasses are generally standard in design and style. With active 3D, the engineering for most 3D TVs now being manufactured, viewers need to utilize more expensive glasses that have built-in components that help make the 3D effect. For the time being the cost of the passive technology means that makers are concentrating on active 3D.
Viewers who wish to experience the 3D preview throughout the Masters will need to meet several specifications to savor the event. Viewers must have a 3DTV and 3D glasses with an HD set top box provided by Comcast which has HDMI connections. On the other hand, those who currently have a 3D PC monitor along with a 3D media player and 3D glasses are also able to tap into the 3D feed at masters.com. People that satisfy these requirements can get the special transmission by way of video-on-demand. Comcast plans to deliver every previous day’s coverage of the Tournament in 3D along with a highlights and recap show on the video-on-demand service. To pull of this feat, Comcast is going to use their fiber optic system to distribute the massive 3D feed. Comcast has teamed up with IBM to help provide the online broadcast. For the happy handful who have 3D sets this years Masters will likely be memorable for reasons other than Tiger’s return.
Comcast, the principal service provider of Digital Cable TV, Broadband Internet, and Phone service, is the initial big cable television provider to go in the 3D TV arena once they announced plans to air a number of live hours of the Masters golf tournament in 3D. The broadcast will also be available on the internet.