LAS VEGAS: At the recently concluded National Association of Broadcasters Convention (NAB) in Las Vegas, Accom (which claims to be the market leader in digital video technology for television broadcasting and video production) and UK-based Beam.TV demonstrated an end to end High-Definition (HD) commercials approval and delivery solution.

This was achieved through the use of Windows Media Encoder 9 Series on its newest uncompressed HD Digital Disk Recorder (DDR), WSD/HDi.

An official release informs that the professional turnkey solution from WSD/HDi and Windows Media Encoder 9 Series allows users to ingest and encode high definition content for streaming within one system. This solution provides the post-production community with streamlined workflow and the most efficient encoding capabilities yielding the highest quality results possible today.

With this combination, HD content is ingested into the WSD/HDi then encoded by Windows Media Encoder 9 Series making it possible for media professionals to easily produce high quality compressed clips which are then uploaded to Beam.TV servers in London.

The uploaded HD commercials can then be viewed via a Beam Box using a simple remote control and video monitor. Over 200 Beam Boxes have already been installed for Beam.TV users including leading advertising agencies, production companies and advertisers worldwide.

The release states that even though the main audience for TV commercials is currently Standard Definition (SD), more and more production companies are making commercials in HD. HD is becoming a popular acquisition format for television commercials because it is a very versatile and high quality medium for directors to work with.

Beam.TV is a global, low cost, highly efficient way of viewing, moving and archiving television commercials during the pre-production and production stages. Beam is internet-based and therefore can be accessed from any computer anywhere in the world without the need for any specific hardware, software or subscription.

Beam.TV MD Matt Cooper was quoted as saying: "When viewing HD material via a Beam Box using Windows Media 9 Series, we can now get HD-quality video in as low as 5-8 Mbps, a data rate that is about three times less than that of MPEG 2".

Recently, Accom HD equipment was selected to be extensively used in this year's productions of the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards. Many of the prime time television shows in the US are now being shot and edited in HD.