Recession Pushes HD Ad Production Into Local Hands

While the ongoing recession certainly isn't helping business these days, some companies see a silver lining by offering a product or service designed to perform in the wake of hard times. One media firm known as ".advancedMethod" has responded to its cost-cutting customers by tailoring a simple digital-signage system known as "express" and then tacking on one additional feature to its system—an option for HD video.

The firm said its "express by .advancedMethod" is designed to be a new kind of digital signage system that can be used by small advertisers, non-profits and others wishing to promote their services—including all hardware, software, templates and other resources to allow production of simple video presentations in HD quality, if desired.

.advancedMethod said once video is uploaded into express, one can add or remove text, photos and special effects on top of a given clip, giving amateur producers the ability to update material as often as required without having to remove and re-upload new video content. Express users can upload Flash, MPEG-4 and Quicktime video and compress it using the h.264 video codec.

The firm said "bandwidth evolution has changed the face of HD video. We can now deliver great content directly from our servers to displays anywhere in the world."

Founded in 2002, .advancedMethod is the creator of "eVideo," a proprietary scheme designed for delivering high-quality presentations, including HD, within the allotted bandwidth.