3D sports on TV not just a remote possibility.

• Author: Taylor, Mike
• Position: SMALL [biz]

High-definition TV owners, don't get too comfortable on your couches.

That HD TV you just bought could be headed for obsolescence. At least that's what I was left considering after watching the first round of the Masters golf tournament in 3D. And that's what early 3D adopters like Samsung and Panasonic want you to ponder.

Comcast hosted a 3D "viewing reception" of the Masters' first round in the clubhouse of Cherry Hills Country Club last month, the first national broadcast of a major sporting event in 3D. It had to be the only venue around where the picture itself and not Tiger Woods, or even golf, really, was the main topic of conversation.

"We think it's the future of television," said Scott Binder, senior vice president of Comcast's Mile High Region. "It's the first time we've had this next-generation 'Avatar'-like experience in a sporting event."

I hadn't seen "Avatar," but I got an idea of the mesmerizing effect of 3D a short time later when a cheer erupted around the 55-inch Samsung, one of two TVs set up in front of couches to show off the 3D experience.

"A hole in one!" exclaimed one man in 3D specs. Not quite. Turns out the golfer had merely holed out from afar, but the viewer had been so captivated by the 3D picture that he hadn't paid close attention to the shot itself or the commentary. He wasn't alone.

"Who hit it?" I asked.

"I don't know," one man wearing 3D specs and sitting on the couch said. "I was looking at the course."

"We've been getting that reaction all day," Binder said. "I think a lot of people walked into the room thinking about Tiger (Woods), and they're walking out thinking about 3D."

While 3D has made inroads in movies both at the theater and in homes, making it happen in sports is a different challenge altogether. Two "stereoscopic" cameras were required to shoot the action simultaneously in Augusta, Ga.; the signal was then transported to Comcast's media center in Denver and distributed nationally.

Being the first one on your block with 3D TV won't come cheap, but it will stimulate the economy. A 50-inch or 55-inch TV will set you back about $3,000, according to the Comcast people; one big-screen 3D model I tried out at Best Buy the next day...