Courtesy USA Today

(March 8, 2010) In prepping for its 3-D channel debuting in June, ESPN recently did its first internal test of using 3-D on a basketball game. (Well sort of a game as the Harlem Globetrotters played the Washington Generals in one of their always-suspenseless matchups.)

Chuck Pagano, ESPN executive vice president/technology, says one lesson learned was that graphics should be toned down on 3-D hoops: "We purposely put on less graphics or the screen would get too busy. You subconsciously might start grappling with other things besides the game."

Can't have that. ESPN's 3-D action will start with up to 25 games in soccer's World Cup — which will have its own worldwide 3-D TV feed — and ESPN will likely move on to having its first regular 3-D coverage coming via a college football game of the week.

How much 3-D TV production will cost remains a key issue. On the Globetrotters game, ESPN used the same cameras for both its 3-D coverage, which used shots from two lenses, and for its regular TV coverage, which used shots from just one lens. Being able to use the same cameras for both, rather than setting up two separate camera operations, could help control costs. "Everything turned out fine," says Pagano. "This is a science project. But for this event, we proved our point."

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