Hasta La Gadget!

The secret behind MSG’s surprise 3D broadcast of last night’s Rangers/Islanders hockey game? It came together in a two week turnaround which repurposed equipment laying around between stops at a recent Black Eyed Peas concert and next month’s NAB show in Las Vegas. Judging by the reviews it was worth the effort with more than a few indicating an interest in buying 3DTVs to check things out at home next time — while it aired on Cablevision, all the reports we found were based on the screens located at the arena itself. Not everyone agreed on the best aspects of the new production: Christopher Botta of Fanhouse preferred a lack of “reaching through the screen” gimmicks while the New York Times report asked for more opportunities to feel like the players are popping out at the viewer, even though they found the standard HDTV feed “flat, underlit and distant” in comparison. We couldn’t find any complaints regarding those ever-present 3D glasses, though issues like someone walking in front of the camera or on screen graphics appearing to leap off the screen revealed there’s still a few kinks to work out (camera placement may be further adjusted during an upcoming renovation.) The appeal of 3D sports for fans has already been established, we’re wondering if playing in a more 3D-ready arena might be used to convince Lebron or other stars to play home games at MSG, in the meantime, check out all the reviews and a few behind the scenes videos embedded after the break.

Continue reading 3D hockey nets positive reviews, biggest surprise of the night was a Rangers win

3D hockey nets positive reviews, biggest surprise of the night was a Rangers win originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, here’s a way to make those 3D tellies attractive — slim them down to unreasonable proportions and kill as much of the bezel as you can. The newly announced LX9500 isn’t quite as skinny as the stuff we saw LG show off at CES, but at 22.3mm it still makes the majority of laptops look on in envy. Paired to a pleasingly minimal 16mm bezel, it makes for quite the gorgeous living room accessory, whether on or off (one more pic after the break). The new LED-backlit set will offer a full 1080p resolution and a 400Hz refresh rate, which is more than enough to make those active shutter glasses useful. A 10,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio is given, but that number wouldn’t impress us even if it was the total US national debt to 1, we want real contrast numbers or nothing at all. Anyhow, Reuters is reporting a 4.7 million Won ($4,134) launch price for the 47-inch model, which should go on sale a week from now in Korea. A 55-inch variant should also be available when these 3DTVs make the journey westwards in May.

Continue reading LG unveils first Full LED 3D HDTV — the 22.3mm-thin LX9500

LG unveils first Full LED 3D HDTV — the 22.3mm-thin LX9500 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 07:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Three continents, three more milestone announcements for 3D. First up is Sky TV, which, with or without 15,000 or so flat screens from LG, is officially launching its Sky 3D channel around the Man. U/Chelsea game on April 3. Already have a 3DTV and Sky’s “top channels and HD pack?” Call the company with details for activation, while everyone else checks to see if their local pub is among the thousand plus already signed up to receive the six live 3D matches slated for this season (plus the Coca Cola league playoff finals) and demo reel for all non-footy hours of the day. Bringing the focus back home, ESPN 3D has scheduled the first event it will produce and air itself, the MLB Home Run Derby on July 12, a day after launching with the SA/Mexico World Cup game. Other events officially on deck (the plan for the first year is still about 85) include several college basketball tournaments and the ACC Championship football game in December. Last but not least is Japan, already home to at least one 3D network, which will soon have access to even more over the cross-manufacturer AcTVila video on-demand service. Clearly, the only logical thing to do is to keep that “3D will never take off” comment macro keyed up, it will be getting a lot of use over the next few months.

Three for 3D: ESPN 3D adds Home Run Derby, Sky 3D launches 4/3, AcTVila makes the jump this summer originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 21 Mar 2010 06:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just as Comcast leapfrogged DirecTV’s 3D plans, its claim to the first live HD 3D event has been stolen away by Cablevision, which will broadcast a Rangers/Islanders NHL matchup Wednesday, shown both in a special viewing party in the Theater at Madison Square Garden and on iO TV channel 1300 (if you already have a 3DTV but not Cablevision then keep an eye on your channel guide as, like the Masters broadcast, it may be shared with other networks.) While this is probably just the beginning of another FCC battle over who it will have to share the broadcasts with, MSG is just focusing on keeping a trend going since it was one of the first to jump on HDTV production of NBA and NHL games way back in 1998 and plans to keep 3D broadcasts coming over the next year with more games and concerts. Production is being handled by 3ality Digital, previously responsible for the BCS game that turned some of our preconceived notions about 3D with its BCS National Championship broadcast a little over a year ago, which plans to use 5 cameras from a lower angle than usual to resemble the perspective of the actual players — minus concussion-inducing blindside hits to the head. Anyone willing to host a viewing party? We’re totally down to bring snacks… if you’ll cover our 3D glasses.

[Thanks, William & Vinny]

Cablevision bumps Comcast to the back, 3D sports at home starts next week originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic has never needed to wait for a new studio album before putting together another major tour, the latest of which it’s dubbed Touch the Future. Trading in the traveling truck exhibition for a more intimate indoor setting, the real production Full HD 3D televisions are available and on display, along with glasses, Blu-ray players plus a few other products for good measure. We took a look as soon as the doors opened in NYC (the display runs through today at the Penn Plaza Pavilion and other locations in Chicago and Los Angeles, check the schedule for 12 more cities on deck) and got an eye full of the same 50-inch plasma 3DTVs on sale at Best Buy stores around the country. One major new look for this demo was an NVIDIA PC running the 3DTV Play solution, as you can see from the pics even New York’s finest enjoyed turning a lap or two of Need for Speed: Shift in 3D. The action was smooth and easy compatibility with 3D gaming on the PC should provide plenty of content while we wait for more true 3D games to hit consoles (which should ramp up after the PS3 update this summer) while checking out Blu-ray demos on a 50-inch television proved every bit as engaging this time as it did on the 152-inch CES display.

Continue reading Panasonic Touch the Future Tour lets production Full HD 3DTVs hit the public stage

Panasonic Touch the Future Tour lets production Full HD 3DTVs hit the public stage originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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