Virgin Media launches 3D movie rentals
For the few with 3D TVs
Virgin Media is to join Sky and launch a channel of 3D content for the one bloke who bought a 3D TV.
Having lashed out a grand or three on said screen, plus a couple of hundred pounds more for the specs, he can now have the pleasure of paying VM for a subscription and V HD or V+ HD set-top box.
The operator's 3D movies with then be available for six-quid a pop on top of that though VM's on-demand rental service.
Upcoming titles include StreetDance 3D, Garfield’s Pet Force 3D, Disney’s A Christmas Carol 3D, Step Up 3D and Despicable Me 3D. So we hope he's a nipper or an urban yoof popper at heart.
Those films will be added to the list of titles over the coming months, which means there's not going to be much choice from the off. Once you've rented one, you have 24 hours to finish watching it.
Sky's in-home 3D TV service launches on Friday, 1 October. ®
COMMENTS
VM ought to ...
.... concentrate on getting more HD content to those of us that have bought HD ready sets instead of this 3D fad.
After spending almost £1,000 on a 46in Panny Plasma there is more chance of Jobs allowing Flash to run on the Jesus phone than there is of me buying a 3D TV, Besides, who really wants to sit in their lounge wearing 3D glasses (that can easily be lost or broken and cost £££ to buy) just for the occasional moment when someone points an object / drives a vehicle / throws something towards the camera.
3D deserves to fail.
International Broadcasting Conference
A couple of weeks ago in Amsterdam the IBC exhibition was absolutely crammed with 3-D tv technology. New developments, new displays, and lots and lots of production systems either designed around or extended to work with 3-D material.
And the overall buzz? It's absolutely doomed for in the house viewing. It works for games, it works in the cinema, and it might work for films in the house. But it's far too immersive for general viewing. The viewer needs to *concentrate* on the images, and people just don't watch TV like that.
Add to that the difficulty of getting good 3-D material to the viewer in the first place, and TVs that make people ill after they watch for a while... I'm not putting any money into this one quite yet.
Virgin Media
will probably randomly stop streaming one dimension at random, then stop, restart and tell you that it's probably your telly that isn't working properly.
According to Sky
They do 1080i and 720p, with "each channel choosing the most appropriate resolution for their content".
In practice, I think that means that the movie channels are in 720p from what I've read in other forums.
I don't have Sky myself, so I can't confirm. But you're right, it's probably going to be a bit of a waste of bandwidth.
(Especially since, as noted elsewhere, it'll be for about three people on the network.)
Oh Joy
.... that'll keep the four people with 3D happy.
