Ind-E-Focus

Could 3-D be the future of sports broadcasting? Does total immersion in your favourite sporting pleasure at your local cinema sound appealing? According to Mark Cuban, co-owner of the Landmark Theatres chain, Live 3-D Telecasts could be the way that people watch sport in the not-so-distant future.

Appearing at a hearing on "Broadband and the Digital Future" at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Cuban said that he presented a live 3-D broadcast of a Dallas Mavericks basketball game at a local Landmark theater in Dallas this past season. "It was a huge success. Fans loved it, 3-D glasses and all, and have asked for more," he told the panel. (Cuban is the owner of the Mavericks.) He remarked that what is holding back similar live telecasts is the virtual nonexistence of any production trucks dedicated to 3-D live programming. "So we are looking at building one," he said. He suggested that the technology could also be used for concerts and theatrical works. (Source: ContactMusic.com - The Mavericks - Cuban forecasts live 3-D Telecasts to Theatres)