3D College football is actually quite enjoyable

It's no secret that as much as we love HD, we're not a big fan of 3D. It isn't that we just hate anything 3D, it's just that the demos we've seen haven't impressed. Well we're happy to report that we actually kinda enjoyed our time at the BCS Championship game in 3D. In fact there are actually a lot of things going for the idea, but to us the 3D aspect is just icing on the cake. What we saw wasn't a technical demonstration or even a demo of an upcoming product, it was actually the first of many events that will be presented in 3D in theaters all over the country. But to us, the story wasn't really the 3D, it was the idea that theaters are going to present live sports in very high quality. There are a few reasons why we like this idea. For one, people like to watch games with friends and family, and second who doesn't want to watch their favorite team on a gigantic screen? So combine these two with the novelty of 3D, and you have yourself a good combination.

Cinedigm is the company with the technology behind this and is leveraging its existing digital cinema network to distribute digital movies, to broadcast games in HD. The games are produced just for the theater experience without commercial interruption -- which we really like -- all the way down to the announcers. Unlike some 3D demos we've seen, the glasses weren't annoying to wear and we didn't feel sick after a few minutes, but it did take our eyes a few minutes to readjust afterwards

Unfortunately the experience wasn't all good, in fact when there was lots of motion, things got fuzzy. Interestingly when you close one eye with the glasses on, not only does the motion blur go away, but in some cases the football would actually disappear all together. There were also some audio issues which we're told were specific to our venue and not the norm. But worst of all, occasionaly the picture would just go crazy and made our eyes feel like they went crossed. But this is new technology and although these issues were super annoying, they didn't make us want to walk out. Now if we'd have paid to see this, we might be asking for our money back.

So overall we found the experience enjoyable but the technology still has a little way to go until it's perfect. Either way, we can see a future for this technology.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 9th 2009 10:09PM]

Apparently well over 50% of the theaters had wires crossed which meant most did not see the real 3D experience unless they figured out to wear their glasses upside down. This was mentioned in USA Today and photos as well as comment on AVSforum.com in the HD Programming Section.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 10th 2009 12:02AM]

I had sound issues at home! one camera angle had commentary, then other camera angles when it switched didn't. I think they screwed up actually at the stadium or the network.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 10th 2009 3:46AM]

I think someone would have noticed it if it were coming from the stadium or the network, don't you?

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 10th 2009 12:07AM]

ya i went to the one in livermore,ca it was sick.... 4 this 2b the start i cant wait 4 the future... they should do more events... i know the next one is nba all star game.... and 4 a side not we should embrace this new mainstream tech if not it will take another 10 years b4 companies risk it... everyone can suck it up and wear the glasses its not that bad after 5 min..

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 10th 2009 3:49PM]

What did you mean by having wires crossed? I'm going to head over to AVS to read that. I went to the broadcast here in Austin, Tx and everything was stated was pretty accurate. I for one did not like the camera views of the game, and didnt like how we never knew how much time was left in the quarter unless the announcer stated. I wanted to experience it and I did, dont think I would do again though.

I know it these things are completely different but BOLT was awesome in 3D but of course animated unlike a live BCS Game, might be more comfortable next time just watching in high def, no glasses needed

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 11th 2009 12:22PM]

Bolt was TERRIBLE IN 3D TERRIBLE!!! BOLT was not made for 3D and I am very disapointed in Disney for doing this again, they had the same crappy 3D for Meet the Robinsons. If you want to see a good 3D animation movie then watch Fly Me to the Moon; I know it sounds funny but that movie was done in 3D the correct way, FILMED IN 3D. Some like Disney are doing the 3D in post processing, which is completely ruining the experience and making it gimmicky. My 2