GalleryPlayer Expands TV Art

GalleryPlayer, the Seattle-based company that provides high-definition still images of fine art and photography for flat-panel HDTV sets, is releasing 80 new half-hour blocks of HD programming aimed at cable's video-on-demand platform.

The company, which is formally announcing the programming expansion at the CTAM 207 Summit in Washington this week, has offered high-resolution still images from such sources as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and National Geographic magazine to Comcast's video-on-demand (VOD) platform since last year.

The Comcast ON DEMAND service features 12 30-minute blocks of still images, accompanied by music, which refresh about every minute. Comcast has run limited advertising against the free service from TV-set manufacturer Panasonic.

GalleryPlayer also provides images directly to Panasonic high-definition plasma TVs by storing them on Secure Digital (SD) memory cards and is selling hi-def images on Blu-Ray optical discs and through its Website.

At CTAM, the company is announcing an initiative to sell image downloads to PCs through cable operators' broadband portals. The concept is for the cable partner to brand the service, which will be operated and maintained by GalleryPlayer.

“They're all really complementary,” says GalleryPlayer Co-founder/President Paul Brownlow. “The VOD platform gives us great reach, and it also helps customers rapidly understand what the value proposition is. It's also of immediate value to the cable operators as well.”

Brownlow predicts the new broadband retail channel on cable operators' portals will be used by subscribers to enjoy their favorite images after they've been switched out of the VOD platform: “People want to be able to have that in their library.”