San
Diego – Sony will showcase its 3D consumer TV and
professional camera expertise when the Masters professional golf tournament
tees off on this week. The Augusta
National Golf Club and viewers at select locations around the country will be
treated to a unique view of the historic grounds.
Sony, a sponsor of
the Masters’ first broadcast in 3D, is outfitting hospitality suites at Augusta
with its 3D Bravia LCD TV sets.
Select Sony Style
stores will also host private events on April 8 with a two-hour live broadcast
from two holes being broadcast in 3D. The 3D content will also be delivered to
the new “Sony 3D Experience,” a consumer research center developed by
Sony and CBS and located in Las Vegas
within the CBS Television
City facility at the MGM
Grand Hotel.
To produce the 3D
images, Sony HD cameras will be used in stereo pairs supplied by NEP
Productions, the mobile production company for the tournament. This year’s
Masters represents the largest worldwide gathering of Sony cameras being used
to provide HD coverage, and the 3D coverage is being exclusively switched
through a Sony MVS-8000-series production switcher.
Comcast will use
its fiber network to carry the 3D production feed to the Comcast Media Center,
where it will be packaged for distribution to cable systems, the official
Masters Web site at
,
as well as Sony 3D TV sets in the Augusta National Clubhouse and hospitality,
suites and select Sony Style stores.
Well-known DP and
3D expert Vince Pace who worked with direct James Cameron on “Avatar” will also
be working with the Sony cameras on the NEP
truck.
The new Sony 3D TV
sets will be in stores this summer. The LX900, which is currently on display at
Sony Style stores across the country, offers integrated 3D functionality with a
built-in 3D transmitter and ships with two pair of Sony’s 3D active-shutter
glasses, while the HX900 and HX800-series are 3D capable by adding the 3D
transmitter and Sony 3D active-shutter glasses (both sold separately).
