Beamr serves the biggest MSOs and OTT video distributors as the industry’s top developer of content-adaptive encoding and video optimization solutions that power high video quality, excellent CPU performance, and excellent bitrate efficiency for telcos, OTT video distributors, broadcasters and OVPs. Backed by 44 granted patents, Beamr's perceptual optimization technology works natively inside our HEVC and H.264 codecs. CABR (Content-Adaptive Bitrate) is a innovative rate-control mode that enables the full original quality to be delivered with bitrate savings as high as 50%. Founded in 2009, Beamr investors include Verizon Ventures, Eric Schmidt backed Innovation Endeavors, and Disruptive.
The video technology Beamr developed for our codecs are covered by 11 granted patents that are a part of the forty-four total patents the company holds that cover our best in class video optimization developments. Though video quality and bitrate continues to be a core focus of development, Beamr recognized the prevailing trend to increase compute performance and density of software-based video encoding and transcoding infrastructure as a key to securing a competitive advantage for OTT services, streaming video platforms, and CDNs. At the same time, video system operators must enable encoding and delivery of advanced entertainment content, by embracing new technologies, capabilities, and codecs such as HEVC, HDR, and 4K.
As a pioneer of content-adaptive technology introduced in 2013 as Beamr Video which was the world's first perceptual video optimizer, Beamr has extensive experience in the area of using a human visual system aligned quality measure to reduce bitrate. This is the basis for the Beamr rate-control called CABR which stands for Content-Adaptive Bitrate. CABR is the power behind the company's HEVC encoder Beamr 5x and the H.264 codec Beamr 4x. CABR is a Beamr proprietary invention that ensures the highest video quality at the lowest bit rate. When a user activates CABR, the user can realize an additional bit rate savings of as much as 50% for both HEVC and H.264 encoded files and streams.
The Beamr quality measure has been in development since 2009. After extensive refinement, and subjecting it to the strict requirements and testing of ITU BT.500 which is an International standard for verifying image quality, we were able to confirm that there is a sufficiently high correlation of our quality measure with human viewing results. The Beamr quality measure takes into account temporal artifacts. Since it is not sufficient to ensure only at the frame level that degradation has not been introduced - it is also necessary to preserve the quality of the video's temporal flow. When viewing a video encoded using the VBR rate-control and a video encoded with the CABR rate-control side-by-side, they will be perceptually identical to the human eye under regular viewing conditions. This is a secret to how the process is able to guarantee image quality.
At the NAB info show in April 2019, Beamr showed with Intel a silicon powered CABR solution, where for the first time, video distributors and 5G telco operators can use MEC to deliver the density, cost, and bitrate efficiency needed for high-volume applications like cloud gaming, 5G connected autonomous cars, real-time live sports streaming, AR, or any use case where high video quality at low bitrate is needed. For video app developers, silicon accelerated CABR allows new product frontiers for demanding applications such as video editing and publishing on the latest generation of mobile devices, tablets, and desktop computers.