• by Jonathan Blum , June 7, 2006

Disc players that offer promising new ad capabilities for marketers have been delayed by at least two months by a major consumer electronics company.

Pioneer Electronics Tuesday confirmed that it will not bring Blu-ray disc players to market until August, rather than this month. Sony Electronics also will release its flagship Blu-ray disc player in August.

But when the disc players arrive later this summer, they will offer new opportunities for marketers. OnlineMediaDaily was recently given a demo of the unit, and if that show was any signal, Blu-ray discs will be a preferred platform for advertisers. DVD players, in theory, offer excellent marketing environments. Shows and movies appear in the highest possible quality, and there is no intermediary such as a cable company or broadcaster between the viewer and marketer.

The problem has been placing current marketing content on DVD players. Most units today are free-standing. There is no easy way to market a message. Advertisers must either burn material on the disc at pressing or ask users to carry a disc by hand to their PCs to connect to related content online.

No more. Next-generation disc players like the Sony Blu-ray are powerful multimedia machines. They connect directly to the Internet and do things that no disc has done before.

Blu-ray players not only can store a full show for playback--say, the "Seinfeld" finale--they can also store an entire season of "Seinfeld" and leave room to spare. This kind of capacity means the discs will be able to store films, narratives, storyboards, scripts, and trailers. And by using their Internet connections, and advanced software, players can also show current commercials delivered live by advertisers.

What's more, Blu-rays will be able to run this ancillary content as movies are playing. Blu-ray players use blue lasers that store and traffic more data than current red laser units. At the recent demo in Los Angeles the player was able to run "Spider-Man 2" and storyboards, script notes, and trailers for the film at once.

Still, early marketing efforts will be limited. Early-generation Blu-ray players will have limited storage, probably closer to today's cell phone.

But within that limitation, consumer response to prototype content is good. Craig Richardson, a self-described audio and videophile from Alta Loma, Calif., saw the same demo as a reporter, and was very excited about Blu-ray's possibilities.

"These things look great," Richardson said. "And if they can get the balance right between shows and spots, it might be a fun way to watch TV."