请问，有谁用3D看世界杯了？

效果如何？
对于远景，3D,2D没有区别，据说近景有改进。

ESPN's broadcast of the FIFA World Cup in 3D: How does it look?
world cup espn 3d
Panasonic's VT20-series 3D TV, pre-game.

While many of you were getting ready for work this morning, I, too, was preparing for my workday. But my guess is that for most of you, that didn't involve preparing a late breakfast, climbing back into bed, and turning on the TV.

That’s because this morning, a little before 10:00 a.m. EDT, ESPN launched the first 3D channel in the U.S., broadcasting the 2010 FIFA World Cup soccer match between Mexico and South Africa—and my job today is to file a short blog about my first impressions with the new ESPN 3D channel.

To receive the broadcast, a few days ago I borrowed a 50-inch Panasonic VT20-series 3D plasma TV from our test labs, along with a Panasonic 3D Blu-ray player and two sets of 3D glasses. Once I lugged the TV upstairs--the only room where the TV could be placed--it only took me about 15 minutes to set up the TV, connect it to a DirecTV HD DVR and the Blu-ray player, and get it working.

About a week ago I had received an onscreen message from DirecTV that all the receivers in my house had been updated for 3D capability, but it wasn't until this morning that I could actually view a 3D broadcast. About 15 minutes before the first World Cup game was to start, ESPN began broadcasting in 3D, but the program was presented as a split-screen image on the TV. That’s because DirecTV (and cable operators) are presenting 3D in the side-by-side format, which combines two images into a single high-def frame. To get the TV to display this 3D format properly, I had to go into the menu and change the 3D setting from Automatic to Side by Side. Once I did this, the familiar blurry images you see without glasses appeared, and I was able to start viewing the preview broadcast in proper 3D.

Initial impressions
Although we'll be filing more comprehensive posts on our various 3D experiences, our initial take was that 3D adds a new, interesting element to watching sports broadcasts. During the pre-game telecast, most of the shots were crowd scenes, and 3D—not surprisingly—gave depth to the images, with flags and banners held by nearby fans appearing clearly in the foreground, and background banners and fans in the cheap seats appearing more in the distance than with a standard broadcast.

Once the game started, I have to say that the quality of the broadcast looked good, definitely like HD, though the impact of the 3D aspect varied greatly. Much of the game was shot from a longer-range camera that gave a broad view of the field, and though 3D did add dimensionality to the playing field, overall I thought that once you got beyond the, "Hey, it's in 3D, that's pretty cool!" aspect, 3D added surprisingly little to my enjoyment of the game as a viewer. That was not the case, however, when ESPN switched to different cameras for close-ups and replays. With these closer on-field shots, such as those taken from behind a player during a penalty kick or in back of a goal during a shot, the images seemed sharper and more detailed, and they added drama and excitement to the on-field events. And during some plays, such as a corner kick or penalty shots, the 3D view gave a greater sense of the distance between players and the width of the playing field.

One question I had prior to viewing was whether the resolution of the 3D broadcast would suffer due to the nature of the 3D format used, where the separate left- and right-eye signals are combined and squeezed into standard 2D HDTV video frame. (To fit the two images into a single frame in the side-by-side format, the horizontal resolution of the image is compressed by half, from 1920 x 1080 to 960 x 1080.) During my hour-long viewing, I'd say that overall the picture looked like HD, certainly an acceptable quality for most viewers. Although not as pristine as what I’m used to seeing from a 3D Blu-ray disc, the close-up shots and replays in particular had a satisfying level of detail. Compared to the standard 2D high-def broadcast of the game, it appeared the 3D version wasn’t quite as crisp, and there was a bit more blurring during fast-moving scenes, such as on the edges of the soccer ball when it was kicked or headed by a player. And it was enjoyable having the onscreen graphics, such as the time and score, and the Sony and ESPN logos, in 3D even if it didn't add anything to the game.

But if you were looking for some whiz-bang 3D effects, you really had to wait until half-time, when several advertisers, including Gillette, Pixar, and ESPN's Sports Center, ran 3D commercials with some in-your-face effects (a flying, rotating razor, a bat poked through the screen toward your face). And since Pixar's upcoming Toy Story movie is in 3D, having that element in the ad was a natural.

As I mentioned earlier, this is just a quick take on some first impressions of the the launch of ESPN's 3D channel. Stay tuned for a few more detailed reports on our experiences with 3D broadcasts, the launch of DirecTV's three 3D channels later this month, plus my family's take at having a 3D TV in our home.

—James K. Willcox