Sky was so secretive about its 3D football broadcast that us journos were only told where we needed to be by phone the day before the event.

Such was the clandestine nature of the event that you couldn’t help but be a little bit excited about watching Arsenal v Manchester United in 3D.

In some ways, Sky tried to make lightning strike twice, as it was also an Arsenal v Man U match that the broadcaster chose to showcase HD for the first time all those years ago. With 3D, though, it’s going to be a much harder sell.

Picture the scene – around 100 people packed into the upstairs of the Slug and Lettuce in Islington and one 47in LG TV.

With us all positioned in the back half of the pub, wearing Roy Orbison-style glasses, 3D didn’t quite make the impact it should have. The graphics looked slick, jumping out of the screen at every possible opportunity, but when it came to the match, most things were, well, flat.

To be fair to Sky, this is very much a fledgling service, but the lack of cameras filming the match was plain to see. Having eight 3D rigs positioned around the pitch, compared with the 20-odd for an HD broadcast, meant that much of the action was filmed from a wide angle – not the most flattering for 3D.

When we did get close-ups, the footage was immersive, drawing you in and adding much-needed depth.

This isn’t 3D to thrill, however. Don’t expect to duck as a ball flies out of the screen. Sky wants to bring you into the action and not the action out to you.

As for wearing polarised lenses for 90 minutes, it’s not as bad as you might think. Mind you, if landlords think they’ll get the specs back in one piece at the end of a match, they’ve got another thing coming!

Marc Chacksfield
News writer
www.techradar.com/