Virgin Media 3D TV Showcase

This week Virgin Media showcased what it is calling 'the first public demonstration of 3D TV in the UK', at the company's brand-new Oxford Street store. The store marks the 44th Virgin Media outlet in the UK and by showcasing 3D TV within it, Virgin hopes to show the public that there will be some interesting innovations to come from the cable company.

Peter Taddeo, Executive Director of Consumer Sales at Virgin Media, said about the 3D demo: "For the very first time we're showcasing exciting 3D television which I hope will give people a fun break from the hectic rush of Christmas shopping."

The demo TechRadar caught was five minutes from Coraline, a movie that was shown off in cinemas using 3D technology. Using polarised glasses, the 3D looked sharp and was presented through the use of a 3D-enabled JVC television. Don't get your hopes up too much about seeing 3D in the home from Virgin anytime soon, however. This is very much a showcase of things to come rather than a declaration of love for the format.

This is something to be expected for a company who has the subscribers of Sky firmly in their sights. Sky is the cable company's biggest rival in the pay-for TV world and it has already shown off its own trials of 3D in the home to a select number of journalists and executives. Sky hopes to install 3D into homes in the UK by 2010.



Virgin has conducted trials of its own using similar technology - an HD stream interlaced with two pictures - but these were also closed to the public, using a private VOD network. This is why the first public showing of 3D TV in the UK is an important one as it shows to consumers for the first time just what they can expect from the technology in the home.

Virgin Media told TechRadar that its V+ set-top boxes are already compatible with 3D, so the demo shows that if/when the company do decide to start piping 3D content through its boxes then consumers won't have to upgrade their equipment.

By Marc Chacksfield, TechRadar