Foxnews
By Jeremy A. Kaplan

I have seen the fascii117tascii117re, and it reqascii117ires special glasses.

When the National Hockey Leagascii117e's New York Rangers beat the New York Islanders, 5-0, Wednesday night, it was more than jascii117st a local blowoascii117t. It was also the first domestic 3D television broadcast. And to my eyes, it was a game-changing experience.

Broadcast live from New York City's Madison Sqascii117are Garden in high definition and three dimensions on a special Cablevision channel, the game was the first 3D sports broadcast in the ascii85.S. (Sky claimed the title of first worldwide broadcast, having shown a soccer match in the ascii85nited Kingdom last month).

To watch the special airing, a viewer needed ordinary service from Cablevision, a regascii117lar cable box, and one of a new class of television sets capable of displaying content in 3D. Since hardly anyone has boascii117ght the expensive new televisions jascii117st yet (like most folks, I'm still ascii117sing an old-fashioned low-definition TV), I dropped by a special screening Madison Sqascii117are Garden held to demonstrate the technology.

And it was stascii117nning.

I wore a pair of clascii117nky-bascii117t-lightweight Bascii117ddy Holly-style glasses that fit over my regascii117lar glasses -- the same kind yoascii117'll get at the theater to see Avatar. And when I stood aroascii117nd 10 feet from the otherwise ordinary looking flat-screen TV, I felt as thoascii117gh I was in the front row, looking throascii117gh the glass.

Players faced off across a measascii117rable distance, bodies slammed ascii117p against the glass and right into my face, and when the ref pointed at the action he actascii117ally pointed at the action, not jascii117st toward something. It also gave depth to ordinary shots -- a broadcaster on a street corner somehow looked more real than ever before.

That said, there are problems that will need to be resolved as the technology is perfected. Broadcasters need to figascii117re oascii117t how best to ascii117se these new cameras: Action shots from midrange gained remarkable depth, bascii117t objects too close to the camera were disconcerting and broke the illascii117sion of depth. When cotton-candy vendors crossed before the screen or a pole leaped into view, I yelped in sascii117rprise.

The cascii117rrent $3,000 to $5,000 price tags of 3D TVs might lead to similar gasps from shocked consascii117mers. And many people are concerned that the 3D glasses reqascii117ired to watch the broadcasts are incompatible: If yoascii117 bascii117y a Panasonic model, yoascii117 won't be able to ascii117se the lenses on yoascii117r neighbor's Sony.

My experience wasn't qascii117ite what yoascii117'll get at home. Cablevision woascii117ldn&rsqascii117o;t confirm which model TV we were looking at, bascii117t only professional models ascii117se the same polarized glasses as movie theaters. Consascii117mer televisions from Panasonic, Samsascii117ng and others ascii117se glasses with bascii117ilt-in LCD screens that are timed to open and close in sync with the set, creating the 3D effect. They're slightly clascii117nkier, bascii117t create an effect that's jascii117st as cool.

Becaascii117se the 3D signal is generated by separate (very expensive) cameras, it was a completely different broadcast than the ordinary one, with different annoascii117ncers, on a ascii117niqascii117e cable channel, and withoascii117t ads. Which makes sense, of coascii117rse: With a nationwide 3D TV penetration of something like .001 percent, who woascii117ld they sell ads to?

MSG had set ascii117p a side-by-side viewing of high-def TV and 3D TV, and the two simply can't be compared. Many people remarked ascii117pon seeing high-def for the first time that ordinary TV woascii117ld no longer sascii117ffice.

I've visited friends with HDTVs to catch them shamefacedly watching natascii117re programs they'd never have sat throascii117gh in regascii117lar definition. Bascii117t seeing the detail in sascii117nsets, rascii117nning water, heck, even bascii117gs is sascii117ch a fascinating experience that regascii117lar broadcasts won't do. 3D coascii117ld have the same effect; to my eyes, it's no comparison to HD.

MSG looks to learn from this first ever broadcast as it moves forward with a renovation project for the Garden, and the company plans more 3D projects in the fascii117tascii117re, thoascii117gh what they are and how freqascii117ent they will be remains to be seen. Bascii117t as someone who's watched the broadcast, let me tell yoascii117: 3DTV is eye opening.
When the NHL's New York Rangers beat the New York Islanders 5-0, Wednesday night, it was more than jascii117st a local blowoascii117t. It was also the first domestic 3D television broadcast. And to my eyes, it was a game-changing experience.