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Apple wants to make even greater use of the Vision Pro headset's capabilities and take sports broadcasts to a whole new level. The company has announced that on 28 August it will, for the first time, show a Major League Baseball game live in the Apple Immersive format. The footage will be captured in 3D at 8K resolution with a field of view of up to 180 degrees, so viewers should feel as if they're right there in the stadium.
Apple Vision Pro will offer a view of an MLB game from a unique perspective
The first broadcast will be the Boston Red Sox versus the New York Yankees, one of the most famous matchups in American baseball history. Apple plans to use special shots in the broadcast that aren’t possible during a traditional TV viewing. The cameras will show, among other things, moments at the plate, players’ reactions in the dugouts and key plays along the outfield fence.
Apple Immersive broadcasts are intended to give the viewer a much greater sense of presence than a standard 3D recording. Footage is captured using Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive cameras, which can record 180-degree 3D at 8K resolution for each eye. The camera can also record at up to 90 frames per second at 8K, which helps preserve detail and smoothness during fast on-field action.
Baseball won’t be the first sport Apple has tried to bring into the Immersive world. The company experimented with 8K and 3D sports broadcasts as early as 2024, and late last year began offering this kind of footage from NBA games. Now the technology is coming to MLB as well, and Apple says more broadcasts are planned in the coming weeks.
However, it isn't true 8K on Vision Pro displays
The term "8K 3D" can be a bit misleading, because the Apple Vision Pro doesn't have displays capable of showing full 8K resolution to each eye. The original footage is indeed recorded in 8K 3D, but on the headset it is later processed into two separate 4K 3D streams, one for each eye. Apple also uses foveated rendering, which allows it to use the available resolution more efficiently.
That doesn't change the fact that the effect can be very impressive. The combination of stereoscopic imagery, a wide field of view and special camera angles means users can get a much more immersive experience than with a traditional broadcast. Apple even says it will be like having the best seat in the stadium without leaving home. Fully exploiting 8K footage would, however, require 8K resolution for each eye, while the current Vision Pro displays are 4K-class panels.
The first MLB game in Apple Immersive will be shown on 28 August, and in September four of the seven MLB games available in this format are scheduled. The broadcasts will run on both the first-generation Vision Pro with the M2 chip and the newer model equipped with the M5. Importantly, access to the content will be part of the standard Apple TV subscription, so users won't have to pay extra for the Immersive format itself. Apple Vision Pro users in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan will be able to access the broadcasts.
Apple will show an MLB game live for the first time using Apple Immersive technology, offering Vision Pro users 3D footage captured in 8K with a 180-degree field of view. The first broadcast will be the Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees game scheduled for 28 August, and in the following weeks the company will show selected baseball games in this format. Although the footage is recorded in 8K, the headset itself does not display full 8K for each eye and uses two 4K 3D streams plus foveation techniques. Despite that, the combination of high-quality imagery, spatial 3D and a wide field of view could provide one of the most immersive at-home sports viewing experiences.
source: flatpanelshd
