As billions of viewers watched the World Cup on 4K screens this summer, they now expect the same clarity in all live sports. Yet, much of the “4K” they see is not true 4K; it is often upscaled from lower-resolution feeds, sometimes inside the TV itself, without broadcaster control. The challenge for broadcasters is to deliver native 4K quality without the enormous bandwidth costs, and Beamr (NASDAQ: BMR) has introduced a solution that meets these expectations.
Beamr's new workflow combines AI super resolution, its Emmy® Award-winning content-adaptive bitrate (CABR) technology, and VISTA, a subjective quality-testing platform. AI super resolution upscales lower-resolution feeds to 4K, while CABR maintains the quality at up to 50% lower bitrate than standard solutions. This is crucial because HD to 4K can require up to nine times the pixels, and without CABR, the bandwidth would explode, making 4K delivery economically unfeasible. This approach works on existing infrastructure, eliminating the need for multi-year rebuilds of contribution networks.
But visual improvement alone isn't enough. Whether an upscaled stream looks better to viewers depends on the content's specific characteristics, such as motion, lighting, and graphics. Beamr VISTA addresses this by using real viewers to compare two versions, providing confirmation in days instead of weeks. This allows broadcasters to validate that their upscaled content genuinely meets viewer expectations.
Beamr will demonstrate the full workflow at IBC 2026 in Amsterdam, September 11-14, at Stand 1.D22 (Hall 1). Broadcasters, rights holders, and streaming platforms can schedule private meetings and demonstrations at beamr.com/ibc26. More details are available in the press release.
Beamr is a leader in content-adaptive video compression, trusted by major media companies like Netflix and Paramount. Its perceptual optimization technology, backed by 53 patents and an Emmy® Award, reduces video file sizes by up to 50% while preserving quality and enabling AI-powered enhancements. The company serves high-growth markets including media, user-generated content, machine learning, and autonomous vehicles, with flexible deployment options on-premises, private or public cloud, and availability for AWS and OCI customers.
This innovation addresses a critical pain point for live sports broadcasters: the gap between what leaves the venue and what viewers expect. By making true 4K delivery affordable and verifiable, Beamr is helping the industry meet the high bar set by major events like the World Cup.
