Great Lakes Media Technology Blog

BD-Live: Could it Make Blu-ray Applicable to the Corporate World?











I previously posted about BD-Live (see below) and what it has to offer to consumers. Call me a naysayer but those consumer features are not all that exciting... yet. Our business, disc replication/packaging and content development (NewMedia), has to be concerned with corporate communications as it is a major part of our business.

The DVD specification does not include web linking from a DVD player. Mostly because DVD players were not wired for internet connections from the beginning. Of course Sonic, Adobe, and other authoring platforms have created the ability to link through to websites from menu screens for DVDs playing in computers, but the compatibility and consistency of it actually working makes it difficult to include on any large scale project.

Blu-ray and BD-Live aims to make physical disc media more dynamic with web connectivity. Experts more negative than I, claim that if Blu-ray is adopted, they will never connect those players to their networks. I respectfully disagree with that view point. With 20% of current Blu-ray player owners already accessing BD-Live content, one can conclude that at least 20% of these early generation players are connected to the Internet.

This 2008 holiday season it is expected that the second generation players will have internal wireless networking capability(which will make it hard not to connect to the Internet) and will have a sub $250 price point. Will this be enough? It is important that consumers find this enticing because the potential for innovative corporate communications will be endless. It will be new medium, with stunning resolution, and an unparalleled way to attach excellence in branding with your business.

What about BD-Live and Corporate Communications? This is where I see BD-Live even more useful than on the consumer product side. Think of these possibilities:

• Allow your end-user to request slides, .pdf manuals, applications for credit- all contained in a carefully branded, high definition menu and have the materials pinged to home/office computers or handheld devices.


• After a stunning high-definition video, ask for feedback, ask for an order, and allow the user to communicate with your company right then and there, while the juices are flowing.


• Track who is actually watching your program.


• Become more responsive by allowing users to open up chat screens with experts from your company after questions about a how-to video.


• Provide up-to-date documents at all times to your dealer network without making new discs.

These are just some of the ideas I have for the medium. I know marketers and business communicators are looking for new, innovative ways to excite their customers and/or employees. Enthusiastic employees and customers grow your business and Blu-ray and BD-Live have the capability to harness and convey that sort of power. Now we wait for the consumer to adopt this technology and the major entertainment publishers have a responsibility to provide valuable content. We wait.... Enthusiastically.