Last night's All-Star game continued tradition by debuting new broadcast technology, as you may have noticed Sportvision's "Backboard Slideout" graphic, superimposing pictures and text on a virtual screen during free throws. It was pretty slick, almost indistinguishable from a real billboard. We've gotten pretty used to virtual graphics (does anyone remember football before the yellow first down line?), any opinions on this latest use of the tech, or predictions on how if it can withstand the power of a Dwight Howard dunk?

What we're watching tonight:

• TNT (1080i) has the NBA 2008 All-Star Game at 8:30 p.m.
• NBC (1080i) has the season finale of American Gladiators at 7 p.m., followed by the new Knight Rider
• ABC (720p) has a new Brothers & Sisters at 10:01 p.m.
• CBS (1080i) presents the season finale of Cold Case at 9 p.m., followed by the network premiere of Dexter
• Showtime (1080i) tosses up a new The L Word at 9 p.m.
• Sci Fi (1080i) has a new movie, The Hive at 9 p.m.
• HDNet (1080i) presents the Stax Records 50th Anniversary Concert at 8:30 p.m.
• HDNet Movies (1080i) premieres The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance at 6 p.m.
• Universal HD (1080i) brings Dirty Harry at 8 p.m.
• ESPN HD (720p) presents ESPN the Magazine at 10, at 8 p.m.

NBA All Star Weekend 2008 is upon us, and while it might not have the 3D cachet of last year's game, there will be plenty of HD to look forward to while voting on the dunk contest. Not just a U.S. spectacle, this year's game will be broadcast in HD in Belgium, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia and Spain. TNT has lined up 32 HD cameras to cover ASW, and 22 HD video servers, all connected via 10 TV trucks, 122 flat screen monitors and 66 miles of fiber cables. The festivities start tonight with the rookie challenge at 9 p.m., but the number we're looking for is how high Dwight Howard jumps in the dunk competition, and if he recreates Andre Iguodala's off-the-back-of-the-backboard reverse jam.

If you can't afford a courtside seat at this weekend's NBA All-Star Game festivities, the league is testing a new way to "change the way we see the game" -- sans the chance of rubbing elbows with various celebrities. Guests in Las Vegas, will go to the Mandalay Bay hotel instead of the Thomas and Mack Center where the game is being played, and don special glasses to view view a 3D high definition version of TNT's broadcast of Saturday and Sunday night's activities. Five 3D camera systems have been installed around the arena by Pace, and according to the NBA's VP of operations and technology, the HDTV widescreen broadcast will allow them to avoid many cuts and camera movements, hopefully minimizing any shaky cam effect some complained about during the special SkyCam broadcast last year. If you can't make it to Vegas to check things out, you can still see this technology at work this season, as a similar broadcast during the NBA Finals is already planned. No word on plans for a "belligerent drunk" simulator, so either way we still have a long way to go towards simulating the real game experience in a theater and someday in the future, at home.

Read - Variety
Read - Broadcasting & Cable

2006 really is the year high definition is taking over, and today's sports lineup proves it.  Say what you will about NBC's HD Olympics coverage, the Daytona 500 is just kicking off and it may not even be the biggest event today. With speedskating and bobsled finals tonight, plus the always exciting ice dancing, the Olympics have a lot to offer, as well as some little thing called the NBA All-Star Game.

Sure the Super Bowl got all the attention, but any of these events by themselves would be great, and to have all three on one day is mind boggling, luckily the 500 is so early, or I'd have some difficult choices to make with my DVR. Too bad the weather isn't better at Daytona as it's more impressive when it's not so overcast, hopefully it will clear up as the day goes on. Still, those wall mounted-cameras are for my money the most exciting shot in sports.

But it has been a great weekend, because we've already had ongoing Olympics coverage, yesterdays Busch series race (was that in HD? I missed it) and the NBA All-Star Friday and Saturday night activities. Speaking of, did anybody else check out the Slam Dunk competition last night? I love Nate Robinson but Iguodala got robbed, his from-behind-the-backboard dunk was one of my favorite ever, plus JR Smith already did the behind the back dunk last year.