What is AVCHD video (MTS file format)?
I recently treated myself to a HD camcorder as I will be going on holiday to California soon for a family wedding. I got the camcorder a bit early so I could have a chance to play around with it and practice editing the clips, the camcorder records the clips in a .MTS file format which is a High-definition MPEG Transport Stream video format, commonly called “AVCHD;” used by Sony, Panasonic, and other HD camcorders; based on the MPEG-2 transport stream and supports 720p and 1080i HD video formats.
Generally, the file extension of AVCHD video is .MTS on camcorder and .M2TS after import to computer.
AVCHD & AVCHD Lite
AVCHD is a format for the recording and playback of high definition video. The format has been jointly developed by Sony and Panasonic. In 2005, the two companies combined their efforts in creating a high definition format for tapeless consumer camcorders. Announced in 2006, the format allows recording high definition video onto 8cm DVD discs, SD/SDHC memory cards, "Memory Stick" cards and hard disk drives.
AVCHD has been designed to be compatible with Blu-ray Disc format and can be used for authoring and distribution of high definition video, though with reduced quality and interactivity compared to Blu-ray Disc.
AVCHD Lite is a subset of AVCHD format, which identifies devices that are capable of 720p recording only. The name was used first in marketing literature for the Panasonic DMC-ZS3/DMC-FT1/DMC-TZ7 digital cameras, announced in January 2009.
Playing back AVCHD video
Recorded AVCHD video can be played back in a variety of ways:
- Directly from a camcorder on an HD television set, through HDMI or component-video cable
- Burned onto writable Blu-ray disc in Blu-ray Disc format, then played on a Blu-ray Disc player or on a Playstation 3 gaming console
- Burned onto DVD disc in AVCHD format, then played on most Blu-ray Disc players or on a Playstation 3 gaming console
- Recorded on an SDHC in AVCHD format, then played on select Panasonic and JVC Blu-ray Disc players and HDTV sets and on a Playstation 3 gaming console
- On a computer, played from the camcorder connected via USB as an external storage device, or from removable media or from the computer's internal hard disk drive. Presently, the default media players from Apple (QuickTime) or Microsoft (Windows Media Player) will not play AVCHD natively. Plugins and/or third party decoders are required.
Windows 7 will be able to import and play AVCHD video natively, having files with extensions M2TS, MTS and M2T pre-registered in the system. Windows Media Player will be able to index content of these files, while Windows Explorer will be able to create thumbnails for each clip. At the current stage of development, the import of AVCHD video metadata such as thumbnail images, playlists, and clip index files is not supported. Joining AVCHD video files during the import is not supported either.
Convert Your HD Videos on Mac
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AVCHD Video Converter for Mac
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