Did you read through the post this morning on watching the World Cup in 3D and think to yourself, “But that’s pointless for Australians!”? We did, which is why we’ve put together this handy guide to watching the matches in 3D here in Australia…
On Your Shiny New 3DTV
Just bought yourself a shiny new 3D capable TV? Then you can watch each of the 25 matches being recorded in 3D Live on the special trial 3D channel that was launched last month.
The catch though is that the channel only works in certain areas, namely Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Newcastle, and Wollongong. If you struggle to get a regular SBS signal though, you’ll probably struggle to get the 3D signal.
Don’t forget that if you’re watching the match in 3D at home, you’ll probably need to spring a few hundred dollars for some extra pairs of glasses so your mates can watch as well.
At The Cinema
Really want to watch the Australia vs Germany match on Monday morning at 4:15am in 3D, but don’t have your own 3D capable TV? Why not head to the cinema? Both Hoyts and Event Cinemas are planning on showing the match in 3D at selected cinemas around the country. At the time of writing, Hoyts were only showing the Australia vs Germany matches in five cinemas in NSW and Victoria, and Event’s website shows that they’re selling tickets, but the link to buy them is broken. But Hoyts is charging $15 a ticket, including the glasses, to watch the match, which is a lot cheaper than buying your own 3D capable TV.
At the Sydney International FIFA Fan Fest
Sydney is one of six locations around the globe, alongside Berlin, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Paris and Rome, to host an official FIFA branded Fan Fest for the World Cup. This is the event we heard about last year when Sony announced they were filming some matches in 3D.
The catch with the Fan Fest site in Darling Harbour is that it won’t actually be broadcasting the matches in 3D live. Instead, they’ll be showing highlights from each of the 3D matches about 12 hours after the match has been won (or lost, if you were playing against Australia) in a dedicated 3D stand from Sony.
Sony’s 3D stand will be fairly obvious to anyone at the Fan Fest site in Darling Harbour. Inside it’s polished mirrored tiles with LED lighting will be TVs showing 3D match highlights from the World cup, PS3 3D highlights and another area showing music and film content in 3D. It’s not going to be as exciting watching 3D at the fan fest – it won’t be live for a start – but it might satisfy the curiosity of anyone not willing to drop cash for a 3D television or a 3D movie ticket.