Photo: Panasonic

Cannes, France - 14 April 2010

Panasonic has today announced a joint partnership with the Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT), Orange and Eurosport, that will see the French Open Tennis, Roland Garros, transmitted live in highquality 3D. This will be the first multi-day sporting tournament held in Europe to be broadcast live in 3D.

Photo: Panasonic

Roland Garros, taking place between May 23rd and June 6th 2010, is one of the most prestigious events in the sporting calendar and is the tennis grand slam with the widest European television audience.

Photo: Panasonic

For the first time, people across Europe will be able to experience the tournament in 3D at selected points of sale, recreating the immersive experience of being court-side on the television set.

At the French Open tournament, all matches on the centre court, Court Philippe Chatrier, will be filmed and shown live in 3D.

Photo: Panasonic

The 3D coverage produced on-site at Roland Garros will be broadcast live via ADSL and fiber to Orange subscribers throughout France on a dedicated Orange TV channel.

In addition thanks to the professional camcorders provided by Panasonic, Orange will be able to shoot behind the scenes 3D footage and create dedicated 3D reports on the field.

Photo: Panasonic

A special 3D documentary will be produced after the tournament and broadcast on the Orange TV channel.

Additionally, the entire tournament will be transmitted in 3D to a large range of retail stores in France.

Photo: Panasonic

Eurosport will receive the Orange 3D live signal and deliver 3D coverage of the event via satellite to more than 3,000 retail stores in up to 58 European territories excluding France on Panasonic’s VT20 3D Plasma TVs.

For the first time, consumers all across Europe will have the opportunity to enjoy the impact of 3D technology on the prestigious French Open for the duration of the tournament.

Photo: Panasonic

The dealers participating in the program can soon be found at the Panasonic 3D website:

http://fullhd3d.panasonic.eu/en_GB  


Laurent Abadie, CEO and Chairman, Panasonic Europe, commented:
“The release of our first 50 inch Full HD 3D Viera TVs and Blu-ray players across Europe this spring will make a new era of immersive home entertainment experiences possible.
The collaboration between Panasonic, Orange, Eurosport and the FFT is a major step forward to show the potential of not just of Hollywood blockbusters but also live broadcast events. For such a prestigious sporting occasion to be available live in 3D will really spark the audience’s imagination and provide a blueprint for the future of 3D broadcasting.”

Photo: Panasonic

Michel Grach , Media Director of Roland Garros added :
“From the early days of sport on television, the Roland Garros tournament has always been at the forefront of innovation, and we are particularly proud that the French Open will be the first tennis event to be showcased so extensively in 3D. Our mobile clay surface makes 3D images all the more impressive, and tennis fans throughout the world will experience our sport as they never have before. Bringing together such diverse fields of expertise within the family of tournament partner like Panasonic – with such an exciting common goal - has set new benchmarks in technological cooperation for sport, and shows great promise for future developments and further ground-breaking innovation.”


About Panasonic


Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products for a wide range of consumer, business, and industrial needs.

Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated net sales of 7.77 trillion yen (US$78.4 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2009.

The company's shares are listed on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and New York (NYSE: PC) stock exchanges.

For more information on the company and the Panasonic brand, visit the company's website at

http://panasonic.net/  


Panasonic Europe Ltd.
Hagenauer Strasse 43
65203 Wiesbaden, Germany
www.panasonic.eu

Press contact:
Anne Guennewig
Tel: +49-(0)611-235-457
Fax: +49-(0)611 235-185
anne.guennewig@eu.panasonic.com

http://panasonic.net/news/2010/1_100414_Panasonic_FrenchTennis-Open_E.pdf

http://fullhd3d.panasonic.eu/fr_FR/article/18/2039/lopen-de-france-roland-garros-une-retransmission-en-3d-et-en-direct-travers-leurope  


Video
What's full-HD 3D for the home all about?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA8St57xnx4&feature