Having ditched the Sky 3D channel thanks to 12 months of endless repeats I’ve been lacking normal 3D television content for a while. That was until the BBC decided to broadcast the final of Strictly Come Daning in 3D last weekend, it’s a shame really because it went on to show why 3D may never take off for standard television programs.
Don’t get me wrong, the actual broadcast quality was superb, throughout the whole night the images were crystal clear, zero cross-talk and the 3D effect added good depth to the proceedings. I was actually quite impressed with the whole thing. It was my wife that was less than happy and the more I think about it the more I agree with her grievances. You see she is a massive ballroom dancing fan and a big part of watching a program like that is admiring the the dancers performance…including the close up shots. If you flipped between 2D and 3D it was blatantly obvious that the 3D broadcast was sticking to very wide angles in everything from the dance itself to the post dance interviews. There were no close ups on faces or feet in the whole program.
I’m not sure if she would have got used to these changes over time but I don’t think so. Tight shots make up a lot of TV programs(especially in the age of HD) and to suddenly lose them all does make a big difference. The liklihood is that production quality will get better over time and the 3D we see will improve to include closer shots without cross-talk but until then I don’t think we’ll be seeing large numbers of normal TV programs shown in 3D, best to stick to nature documentaries and live sports (in which it excels) for now.
The BBC do deserve a massive pat on the back though, as a demonstration in producing clear 3D it was superb, even more importantly it should highlight to other broadcasters that there’s no need to lump all there 3D content under the Sky 3D banner, ANY channel is capable of showing 3D content.
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