Hi Prof Natalia, 

As you know, verbs are a class of words that describe actions. Simple examples include: walk/think/perceive et cetera. 

In addition, there are some other verbs which describe the state/situation which something (noun) is in. Simple examples include: is/are/am/feels/being. 

Example 1: You do not need to be offended by his words -- he is being himself. 

So, as you can see, "being" is used to describe someone in a state of his normal behaviour. 

Example 2: Before the fall of the Iron Curtain, families in East and West Germany were being separated. 

Here, "being" is used to describe the situation where families were not allowed to reunite. 

Back to your sentence, it means 4k is perceived favourably to be the next advancement in HD technology -- 4k is seen in a positive light (a positive state).

Of course, "being" can also function as a noun, so I thought I would just bring up this point in a cursory manner. 

Another piece of sharing is this: "being" can also be used to form passive gerunds.

Eg: The gardener was mowing the lawn. (Active voice) VS  The lawn was being mown (passive gerund) by the gardener. (Passive voice)

Therefore, "being" is used in different ways and different sentence constructions. 

Hope this helps.
Cheers, 
Lance

It's built from a verb, but in this sentence it's a gerund.

"As" is usually followed by nouns or clauses. Sometimes adjectives can follow. Regular verbs don't follow.

Here's a breakdown of the sentence:

We see that 4k will be the next HD.  ..."see" in this case would mean "consider", or perhaps "predict". Notice that the verb "be" is put in a future form. 

We see 4k as being the next HD.  ...no need to worry about tense or time frames when the verb is in this form. :)

We see 4k as the next HD.  ...this is also perfectly possible!