Watch State of Origin in 3D on Nine

Nine Network Australia will provide a world first for viewers when the Harvey Norman State of Origin rugby league tournament becomes the first sporting event to be broadcast live in 3D on free-to-air television. Ericsson has provided video processing solutions that will enable fans of this fiercely contested, three-game series to experience the action like never before.

“The Harvey Norman State of Origin Series is one of the biggest tournaments in Australia’s sporting calendar and we’re delighted to pioneer 3D sports broadcasting on free-to-air television and provide our viewers with the best seat in the house,” said Charles Sevior, Network Manager Broadcast Technology, Nine Network Australia.

“Bringing 3D to terrestrial television presents obvious challenges in terms of available bandwidth, so we were pleased to be able to draw upon the knowledge and expertise of the Ericsson team to deliver this revolutionary coverage using the latest H.264 MPEG-4 encoding to rugby league fans throughout the country,” said Sevior.

“3D innovation has fast become a reality for consumers, but this is the first sports broadcast of its kind anywhere in the world on terrestrial television,” said Staffan Pehrson, Head of Solution Area TV, Business Unit Multimedia, Ericsson.

“Having pioneered technology for the HDTV market, Ericsson is now providing the solutions required by innovative broadcasters like Channel Nine to bring groundbreaking 3D broadcasts to consumers. We are pleased to be playing a key role in making this world first a success for the Nine Network,” said Pehrson.

The expertise in the TV area comes from Ericsson's acquisition of Tandberg Television and its video compression technology three years ago.