AVCHD
Encyclopedia
AVCHD is a file-based format for the digital recording
and playback of high-definition video
.
Developed jointly by Sony
and Panasonic
, the format was introduced in 2006 primarily for use in high definition consumer camcorder
s. Favorable comparisons of AVCHD against HDV
and XDCAM EX
solidified perception of AVCHD as a format acceptable for professional usage. Panasonic released the first professional AVCHD camcorder in autumn of 2008, followed by Sony in the first quarter of 2010.
In 2011 the AVCHD specification has been amended to include 1080-line 50-frame/s and 60-frame/s modes (AVCHD Progressive) and stereoscopic video (AVCHD 3D). The new modes also allowed higher system data rate than existing modes.
AVCHD and its logo are trademarks of Panasonic
and Sony
.
(AVC) standard, supporting a variety of standard, high definition, and stereoscopic (3D) video resolutions. For audio compression, supports both Dolby AC-3 (Dolby Digital) and uncompressed linear PCM audio. Stereo and multichannel surround (5.1) are both supported.
Aside from recorded audio and video, AVCHD includes features to improve media presentation: menu navigation, slide shows and subtitles. The menu navigation system is similar to DVD-video, allowing access to individual videos from a common intro screen. Slide shows are prepared from a sequence of AVC still frames, and can be accompanied by a background audio track. Subtitles are used in some camcorders to timestamp the recordings.
Audio, video, subtitle, and ancillary streams are multiplexed
into an MPEG transport stream and stored on media as binary files. Usually, memory cards and HDDs use the FAT
file system, while optical discs employ UDF
or ISO9660.
At the file system level, the structure of AVCHD is derived from the Blu-ray Disc
specification, but is not identical to it. In particular, it uses legacy "8.3" file naming convention, while Blu-ray Discs utilize long
filenames (this may be caused by the fact that FAT implementations utilizing long file names are patented by Microsoft
and are licensed on a per unit sold basis). Another difference is location of the BDMV directory, which contains media files. On a DVD-based camcorder the BDMV directory is placed at the root level, as on the Blu-ray Disc. On the HDD-based Canon HG10 camcorder the BDMV directory is located in the AVCHD directory, which is placed at the root level. Solid-state Panasonic and Canon camcorders nest the AVCHD directory inside the PRIVATE directory. Following a standard agreed upon by many still camera manufacturers, solid-state camcorders have a root-level DCIM
directory for still images.
AVCHD has been designed to be compatible with Blu-ray Disc
format and can be authored without re-encoding on Blu-ray discs or DVDs, though not all Blu-ray Disc players are compatible with AVCHD video authored on DVD media, a format known as AVCHD disc.
AVCHD recordings can be transferred to a computer by connecting the camcorder via the USB
connection. Removable media like SDHC and Memory Stick cards or DVDs can be read on a computer directly. Copying files from an AVCHD camcorder or from removable media can be performed faster than from a tape-based camcorder, because the transfer speed is not limited by realtime playback.
Just as editing DVCPRO HD and HDV
video once demanded an expensive high-end computer, AVCHD editing software requires powerful machines. Compared to HDV, AVCHD requires 2-4x the processing power for realtime playback, placing a greater burden on the computer's CPU and graphics card. Improvements in multi-core
computing and graphics processor acceleration bring AVCHD playback to mainstream desktops and laptops.
Most AVCHD camcorders support only a handful of the video and audio formats allowed in the AVCHD standard.
AVCHD 1080i is available on most AVCHD camcorders. For some models this is the only recording mode offered. AVCHD-SD is used in the shoulder-mount Panasonic HDC-MDH1, available on Southern-Asian markets, as well as on its North American AG-AC7 cousin. Several new models from JVC like the GZ-HM650, GZ-HM670 and GZ-HM690 can record AVCHD-SD video too. AVCHD-SD is not compatible with consumer DVD players, because it employs AVC video encoding instead of MPEG-2 Part 2. AVCHD-SD can be played on a Blu-ray Disc player.
Interlaced video had been originally designed for watching on a cathode-ray tube television set. Material recorded for interlaced presentation may exhibit combing or ghosting
when it is rescaled
, filmed out
or watched on a computer or another progressive-scan
device without proper deinterlacing
.
Some AVCHD 1080i camcorders can capture progressive video and record it within interlaced stream borrowing techniques from television industry. In particular, Progressive segmented frame
(PsF) is utilized in some Panasonic (25p Digital Cinema), Canon (PF25, PF30) and Sony camcorders. The 2:3 pulldown technique is used in some 60 Hz versions of Canon (PF24) and Panasonic (24p Digital Cinema) camcorders for recording 24-frame/s progressive video. Most editing tools treat progressive video recorded within an interlaced stream as interlaced, though some editing systems and most standalone Blu-ray Disc players are capable of recognizing the pulldown pattern to recover the original frames using the process known as inverse telecine.
Since the very beginning the AVCHD specification had supported 720-line progressive recording mode at frame rates of 24 and 60 frames/s for 60 Hz models and 50 frames/s for 50 Hz models. Frame rates of 25 frames/s and 30 frames/s are not directly available in 720p mode, but can be simulated with frame repeating, when every frame is either repeated twice or a special flag in the video stream instructs a decoder to play every frame twice to adhere to output rate of 50 or 60 frames/s.
Many of digital compact cameras made by Panasonic, such as the DMC-ZS3/DMC-TZ7, DMC-FT1, DMC-FZ35/DMC-FZ38, and DMC-ZS-7/TZ-10 offer 720p video recording with effective frame rate of 25 or 30 frames/s in a format called AVCHD Lite (see below).
Until the advent of AVCHD Progressive mode, native progressive-scan video for 1080-line resolution had been available only in 24 frames/s variant. In 2010, Panasonic introduced a new lineup of consumer AVCHD camcorders with 1080-line 50p/60p progressive-scan mode (frame rate depending on region). Panasonic advised that not all players that support AVCHD playback could play 1080-line 50p/60p video. In 2011 this mode was officially included into the AVCHD specification as part of 2.0 addendum, and has been called AVCHD Progressive. This mode uses the same AVCHD folder structure and container files for storing video, with the maximum bitrate of 28 Mbit/s. In 2011 Sony introduced consumer and professional AVCHD models capable of AVCHD Progressive recording.
Some professional models allow recording uncompressed linear PCM audio.
When AVCHD standard was first announced, recordable DVD was the only recording medium. To reduce camcorder size, manufacturers opted for a 8 cm disc, sometimes called miniDVD
. Recording capacity of a 8 cm disc ranges from 1.4 GB for a single-sided single layer disc to 5.2 GB for a double-sided double layer disc.
Pros:
Cons:
As capacity of memory cards grew while their price dropped, DVDs quickly fell out of favor. No DVD-based AVCHD camcorders have been produced since 2008.
While DVDs are no longer used for acquisition, they are becoming popular as distribution media. Many authoring programs offer "AVCHD" profile for recording high definition video on a DVD. Such AVCHD discs are incompatible with regular DVD-Video
players, but can be played in many Blu-ray Disc players. A conventional single-layer 12 cm DVD can store approximately half an hour of video recorded at maximum bitrate allowed for DVD media by AVCHD specification - 18 Mbit/s.
A hard disk drive was added as an optional recording medium to AVCHD specification shortly after the new video standard had been announced. Presently, capacity of built-in HDDs ranges from 30 GB to 240 GB.
Pros:
Cons:
Many AVCHD camcorders employ Secure Digital
or "Memory Stick
" memory cards as removable recording media. Solid-state memory cards offer rewritable storage in a compact form factor with no moving parts. With transfer speeds ranging from 10 MByte/s to 20 Mbyte/s, it takes about 1 minute to transfer 1 GB of video to a computer for viewing and/or editing.
Panasonic and Sony chose removable flash memory as the sole type of recording media in their professional AVCHD lineups, AVCCAM and NXCAM respectively.
Until 2010 Sony insisted on usage of its own memory card format - Memory Stick. Starting from 2010 Sony allowed using both Memory Stick as well as Secure Digital cards in its consumer and professional camcorders. Panasonic as well as other manufacturers of AVCHD camcorders, use Secure Digital cards as removable flash media. Most models accept Secure Digital High Capacity cards (SDHC), while some models are also compatible with Secure Digital Extended Capacity (SDXC) cards, which offer higher transfer speed and capacity.
Pros:
Cons:
Pros:
Cons:
, Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2
, Lumix DMC-FZ35/38
, Lumix DMC-TZ10/ZS7
, Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX75, Panasonic LX5, LEICA D-LUX 5, LEICA V-LUX 2.
disc with AVCHD video recorded on it is known as AVCHD disc. AVCHD discs cannot be played in a standard DVD player, but can be played in many Blu-ray Disc players. Smooth playback is not guaranteed if overall data rate exceeds 18 Mbit/s. It is possible to create simple menus similar to menus used for DVD-video discs.
AVCHD content can also be recorded on SDHC cards and played by many television sets, Blu-ray Disc players and media consoles. Data rate on memory cards is officially limited to 24 Mbit/s.
AVCHD specification does not officially support Blu-ray Disc media, though some software packages allow authoring AVCHD content on Blu-ray Discs. For better compatibility with Blu-ray Disc players AVCHD video can be authored on Blu-ray Disc media as Blu-ray Disc video. Authoring a Blu-ray Disc video title does not require re-encoding of AVCHD audio and video streams. The resultant disc will play in any Blu-ray Disc player including those that do not explicitly support the AVCHD format.
Many software vendors support AVCHD mastering. In particular:
Blu-ray Disc players with "AVCHD" logo play AVCHD discs authored either on 8 cm or 12 cm DVDs. Players without such a logo are not guaranteed to play AVCHD discs.
As the creators of AVCHD, Sony and Panasonic support AVCHD playback in their Blu-ray Disc players. In particular, the Sony BDP-S1
, Sony BDP-S300, Sony BD507, the Panasonic DMP-BD10, the Panasonic DMP-BD30K, the Panasonic DMP-BD35, the Panasonic DMP-BD60K, the Panasonic DMP-BD80K, and the PlayStation 3
can play AVCHD discs. In addition, some Panasonic and JVC Blu-ray Disc players (e.g. Panasonic DMP-BD60K, Panasonic DMP-BD80K) support AVCHD playback from SDHC memory cards.
In one instance, AVCHD playback was removed from a Blu-ray Disc player already on the market, the Samsung BD-P1200. Firmware update 2.3 removed AVCHD support from the BD-P1200.
Panasonic AVCHD camcorders use AVC with High Profile @ Level 4.0 for all modes except 1080p50/1080p60, which are encoded with High Profile @ Level 4.2. Maximum data rate is limited to 24 Mbit/s for AVCCAM models, to 17 Mbit/s for most consumer models and to 28 Mbit/s for 1080p50/1080p60 recording modes.
In 2009 Panasonic introduced AVCHD Lite and AVCHD to selected members of its Lumix line of digital cameras:
* to avoid European specific tax, Panasonic digital cameras for this market are limited to 30 minutes recording.
Released in March 2011, the Sony NEX-FS100 is the first professional NXCAM camcorder capable of 1080p50/p60 recording; consumer-grade HandyCam NEX-VG20 followed in August 2011.
The list of AVCHD camcoders includes:
In 2010 Sony introduced AVCHD to selected members of its Cybershot line of digital cameras.
Digital recording
In digital recording, digital audio and digital video is directly recorded to a storage device as a stream of discrete numbers, representing the changes in air pressure for audio and chroma and luminance values for video through time, thus making an abstract template for the original sound or...
and playback of high-definition video
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
.
Developed jointly by Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
and Panasonic
Panasonic
Panasonic is an international brand name for Japanese electric products manufacturer Panasonic Corporation, which was formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd...
, the format was introduced in 2006 primarily for use in high definition consumer camcorder
Camcorder
A camcorder is an electronic device that combines a video camera and a video recorder into one unit. Equipment manufacturers do not seem to have strict guidelines for the term usage...
s. Favorable comparisons of AVCHD against HDV
HDV
HDV is a format for recording of high-definition video on DV cassette tape. The format was originally developed by JVC and supported by Sony, Canon and Sharp...
and XDCAM EX
XDCAM
XDCAM is a a series of products for digital recording using random access solid-state memory media, introduced by Sony in 2003. Four different product lines — the XDCAM SD, XDCAM HD, XDCAM EX and XDCAM HD422 — differ in types of encoder used, frame size, container type and in...
solidified perception of AVCHD as a format acceptable for professional usage. Panasonic released the first professional AVCHD camcorder in autumn of 2008, followed by Sony in the first quarter of 2010.
In 2011 the AVCHD specification has been amended to include 1080-line 50-frame/s and 60-frame/s modes (AVCHD Progressive) and stereoscopic video (AVCHD 3D). The new modes also allowed higher system data rate than existing modes.
AVCHD and its logo are trademarks of Panasonic
Panasonic
Panasonic is an international brand name for Japanese electric products manufacturer Panasonic Corporation, which was formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd...
and Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
.
Overview
For video compression, AVCHD uses the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC is a standard for video compression, and is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video...
(AVC) standard, supporting a variety of standard, high definition, and stereoscopic (3D) video resolutions. For audio compression, supports both Dolby AC-3 (Dolby Digital) and uncompressed linear PCM audio. Stereo and multichannel surround (5.1) are both supported.
Aside from recorded audio and video, AVCHD includes features to improve media presentation: menu navigation, slide shows and subtitles. The menu navigation system is similar to DVD-video, allowing access to individual videos from a common intro screen. Slide shows are prepared from a sequence of AVC still frames, and can be accompanied by a background audio track. Subtitles are used in some camcorders to timestamp the recordings.
Audio, video, subtitle, and ancillary streams are multiplexed
Multiplexing
The multiplexed signal is transmitted over a communication channel, which may be a physical transmission medium. The multiplexing divides the capacity of the low-level communication channel into several higher-level logical channels, one for each message signal or data stream to be transferred...
into an MPEG transport stream and stored on media as binary files. Usually, memory cards and HDDs use the FAT
File Allocation Table
File Allocation Table is a computer file system architecture now widely used on many computer systems and most memory cards, such as those used with digital cameras. FAT file systems are commonly found on floppy disks, flash memory cards, digital cameras, and many other portable devices because of...
file system, while optical discs employ UDF
UDF
- Aviation :* UHF Direction Finder, a kind of radio direction finding * Unducted fan, a type of jet engine* User Development Fee - Airport Tax- Computer Science :* Uniqueness Database Files, a Windows XP Professional configuration text file...
or ISO9660.
At the file system level, the structure of AVCHD is derived from the Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
specification, but is not identical to it. In particular, it uses legacy "8.3" file naming convention, while Blu-ray Discs utilize long
Long filename
Long filenames , are Microsoft's way of implementing filenames longer than the 8.3 filename, or short-filename, naming scheme used in Microsoft DOS in their modern FAT and NTFS filesystems. Because these filenames can be longer than an 8.3 filename, they can be more descriptive...
filenames (this may be caused by the fact that FAT implementations utilizing long file names are patented by Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
and are licensed on a per unit sold basis). Another difference is location of the BDMV directory, which contains media files. On a DVD-based camcorder the BDMV directory is placed at the root level, as on the Blu-ray Disc. On the HDD-based Canon HG10 camcorder the BDMV directory is located in the AVCHD directory, which is placed at the root level. Solid-state Panasonic and Canon camcorders nest the AVCHD directory inside the PRIVATE directory. Following a standard agreed upon by many still camera manufacturers, solid-state camcorders have a root-level DCIM
Design rule for Camera File system
Design rule for Camera File system is a JEITA specification which defines a file system for digital cameras, including the directory structure, file naming method, character set, file format, and metadata format. It is currently the de facto industry standard for digital still cameras...
directory for still images.
AVCHD has been designed to be compatible with Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
format and can be authored without re-encoding on Blu-ray discs or DVDs, though not all Blu-ray Disc players are compatible with AVCHD video authored on DVD media, a format known as AVCHD disc.
AVCHD recordings can be transferred to a computer by connecting the camcorder via the USB
Universal Serial Bus
USB is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and protocols used in a bus for connection, communication and power supply between computers and electronic devices....
connection. Removable media like SDHC and Memory Stick cards or DVDs can be read on a computer directly. Copying files from an AVCHD camcorder or from removable media can be performed faster than from a tape-based camcorder, because the transfer speed is not limited by realtime playback.
Just as editing DVCPRO HD and HDV
HDV
HDV is a format for recording of high-definition video on DV cassette tape. The format was originally developed by JVC and supported by Sony, Canon and Sharp...
video once demanded an expensive high-end computer, AVCHD editing software requires powerful machines. Compared to HDV, AVCHD requires 2-4x the processing power for realtime playback, placing a greater burden on the computer's CPU and graphics card. Improvements in multi-core
Multi-core (computing)
A multi-core processor is a single computing component with two or more independent actual processors , which are the units that read and execute program instructions...
computing and graphics processor acceleration bring AVCHD playback to mainstream desktops and laptops.
Video formats
AVCHD supports a variety of video resolutions and scanning methods, which has been further extended with the 2011 amendment of the specification. The licensing body of the specification defines a variety of labels for products compliant with specific features.Most AVCHD camcorders support only a handful of the video and audio formats allowed in the AVCHD standard.
Interlaced video
AVCHD supports both standard definition (AVCHD-SD) and high definition (AVCHD 1080i) interlaced video.AVCHD 1080i is available on most AVCHD camcorders. For some models this is the only recording mode offered. AVCHD-SD is used in the shoulder-mount Panasonic HDC-MDH1, available on Southern-Asian markets, as well as on its North American AG-AC7 cousin. Several new models from JVC like the GZ-HM650, GZ-HM670 and GZ-HM690 can record AVCHD-SD video too. AVCHD-SD is not compatible with consumer DVD players, because it employs AVC video encoding instead of MPEG-2 Part 2. AVCHD-SD can be played on a Blu-ray Disc player.
Interlaced video had been originally designed for watching on a cathode-ray tube television set. Material recorded for interlaced presentation may exhibit combing or ghosting
Ghosting (television)
In television, a ghost is a replica of the transmitted image, offset in position, that is super-imposed on top of the main image on an analogue broadcast.-Common causes:Common causes of ghosts are:...
when it is rescaled
Image scaling
In computer graphics, image scaling is the process of resizing a digital image. Scaling is a non-trivial process that involves a trade-off between efficiency, smoothness and sharpness. As the size of an image is increased, so the pixels which comprise the image become increasingly visible, making...
, filmed out
Film-out
Film-out is the process in the computer graphics, video production and filmmaking disciplines of transferring images or animation from videotape or digital files to a traditional film print...
or watched on a computer or another progressive-scan
Progressive scan
Progressive scanning is a way of displaying, storing, or transmitting moving images in which all the lines of each frame are drawn in sequence...
device without proper deinterlacing
Deinterlacing
Deinterlacing is the process of converting interlaced video, such as common analog television signals or 1080i format HDTV signals, into a non-interlaced form....
.
Some AVCHD 1080i camcorders can capture progressive video and record it within interlaced stream borrowing techniques from television industry. In particular, Progressive segmented frame
Progressive segmented frame
Progressive segmented Frame is a scheme designed to acquire, store, modify, and distribute progressive-scan video using interlaced equipment and media....
(PsF) is utilized in some Panasonic (25p Digital Cinema), Canon (PF25, PF30) and Sony camcorders. The 2:3 pulldown technique is used in some 60 Hz versions of Canon (PF24) and Panasonic (24p Digital Cinema) camcorders for recording 24-frame/s progressive video. Most editing tools treat progressive video recorded within an interlaced stream as interlaced, though some editing systems and most standalone Blu-ray Disc players are capable of recognizing the pulldown pattern to recover the original frames using the process known as inverse telecine.
Progressive-scan video
Many of digital compact cameras made by Panasonic, such as the DMC-ZS3/DMC-TZ7, DMC-FT1, DMC-FZ35/DMC-FZ38, and DMC-ZS-7/TZ-10 offer 720p video recording with effective frame rate of 25 or 30 frames/s in a format called AVCHD Lite (see below).
Until the advent of AVCHD Progressive mode, native progressive-scan video for 1080-line resolution had been available only in 24 frames/s variant. In 2010, Panasonic introduced a new lineup of consumer AVCHD camcorders with 1080-line 50p/60p progressive-scan mode (frame rate depending on region). Panasonic advised that not all players that support AVCHD playback could play 1080-line 50p/60p video. In 2011 this mode was officially included into the AVCHD specification as part of 2.0 addendum, and has been called AVCHD Progressive. This mode uses the same AVCHD folder structure and container files for storing video, with the maximum bitrate of 28 Mbit/s. In 2011 Sony introduced consumer and professional AVCHD models capable of AVCHD Progressive recording.
Audio formats
Most AVCHD camcorders record audio using Dolby Digital (AC-3) compression scheme. Stereo and multichannel audio is supported. Audio data rate can range from 64 kbit/s to 640 kbit/s. In practice, data rates of 256 kbit/s and 384 kbit/s have been observed.Some professional models allow recording uncompressed linear PCM audio.
Media
AVCHD specification allows using recordable DVDs, memory cards, non-removable solid-state memory and hard disk drives as recording media.DVD
MiniDVD
MiniDVD is a DVD disc having 8 cm in diameter.The 8 cm optical disc format was originally used for music CD singles, hence the commonly used names CD single and miniCD...
. Recording capacity of a 8 cm disc ranges from 1.4 GB for a single-sided single layer disc to 5.2 GB for a double-sided double layer disc.
Pros:
- DVDs are familiar to most consumers, thus considered user-friendly.
- Recordable DVDs are relatively cheap.
- Recorded disc can be played back in most Blu-ray Disc players.
- Discs can be used for long-term storage of recorded video.
Cons:
- The longevity of recordable DVDs is argued to be much shorter than expected.
- Rewritable DVDs cost more than write-once discs.
- DVDs have to be "finalized" to be played back on set-top players (though DVD-RWs can be unfinalized again).
- Double-layer recording is less robust than single-layer recording.
- To use both sides of a double-sided disc it must be flipped over, because camcorders have pickup from one side only.
- AVCHD DVDs cannot be played back on regular DVD players.
- The AVCHD specification limits data rate for DVD-based AVCHD camcorders to 18 Mbit/s, but no DVD-based AVCHD camcorder manufactured to date is capable of recording at data rate higher than 12 Mbit/s (Canon, Sony) or 13 Mbit/s (Panasonic).
- A single-sided single-layer 8 cm DVD can fit only 15 minutes of video at 12 Mbit/s, 14 minutes at 13 Mbit/s.
- DVD pickup mechanism is very susceptible to vibration.
- 8 cm DVDs cannot be used in many slot-loading drives and may even damage the drive.
As capacity of memory cards grew while their price dropped, DVDs quickly fell out of favor. No DVD-based AVCHD camcorders have been produced since 2008.
While DVDs are no longer used for acquisition, they are becoming popular as distribution media. Many authoring programs offer "AVCHD" profile for recording high definition video on a DVD. Such AVCHD discs are incompatible with regular DVD-Video
DVD-Video
DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs, and is currently the dominant consumer video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and a MPEG-2 decoder...
players, but can be played in many Blu-ray Disc players. A conventional single-layer 12 cm DVD can store approximately half an hour of video recorded at maximum bitrate allowed for DVD media by AVCHD specification - 18 Mbit/s.
Hard disk drive
Pros:
- Higher capacity than other media types, which allows for longer continuous recording.
Cons:
- Sensitive to atmospheric pressure. The HDD may fail if the camcorder is used at altitudes above 3000 metres (9,842.5 ft).
- Vulnerable to mechanical shock or fast movement.
- All HDD-based AVCHD camcorders employ non-removable disks. To transfer video to a computer the camcorder must be connected with a USB cable. Most camcorders require using an AC power adapter for this operation.
- The sound of moving magnetic heads may be heard in the recorded video when recording in quiet environment.
- Replacing a damaged HDD requires disassembling a camcorder and cannot be done by a consumer.
Solid-state memory card
Secure Digital
Secure Digital is a non-volatile memory card format developed by the SD Card Association for use in portable devices. The SD technology is used by more than 400 brands across dozens of product categories and more than 8,000 models, and is considered the de-facto industry standard.Secure Digital...
or "Memory Stick
Memory Stick
Memory Stick is a removable flash memory card format, launched by Sony in October 1998, and is also used in general to describe the whole family of Memory Sticks...
" memory cards as removable recording media. Solid-state memory cards offer rewritable storage in a compact form factor with no moving parts. With transfer speeds ranging from 10 MByte/s to 20 Mbyte/s, it takes about 1 minute to transfer 1 GB of video to a computer for viewing and/or editing.
Panasonic and Sony chose removable flash memory as the sole type of recording media in their professional AVCHD lineups, AVCCAM and NXCAM respectively.
Until 2010 Sony insisted on usage of its own memory card format - Memory Stick. Starting from 2010 Sony allowed using both Memory Stick as well as Secure Digital cards in its consumer and professional camcorders. Panasonic as well as other manufacturers of AVCHD camcorders, use Secure Digital cards as removable flash media. Most models accept Secure Digital High Capacity cards (SDHC), while some models are also compatible with Secure Digital Extended Capacity (SDXC) cards, which offer higher transfer speed and capacity.
Pros:
- Compact and lightweight.
- Does not require time for spin-up and initialization.
- Not vulnerable to magnetic fields.
- Can withstand a wider range of air pressure, humidity and vibration than HDDs.
- Can be easily backed up to DVD for viewing and for long-term archiving.
- Can store mixed media content, including still images like snapshot photos and still-frame captures.
- The recording section contains no moving parts, thus operation is almost silent; also a camera can be made more compact and less prone to mechanical damage in case of being dropped.
- Most new computers, some TVs and Blu-ray Disc players, as well as many personal portable media players have built-in card readers and can play AVCHD video directly from a card.
Cons:
- More expensive per minute of recording than a built-in HDD or DVD media.
- Cards may wear out more rapidly than expected.dead link
- Not reliable for long term storage, especially the cards made with MLCMulti-level cellIn electronics, a multi-level cell is a memory element capable of storing more than a single bit of information.MLC NAND flash is a flash memory technology using multiple levels per cell to allow more bits to be stored using the same number of transistors...
technology, because of narrower acceptable level of discharge compared to SLC cards. - Vulnerable to electrical damage, such as static discharge.
- A bad memory card can cause data corruption, causing loss of one or more clips.
- Loss of data can occur if a card is removed or power is turned off while the card is being recorded to.
- Older card readers designed for MMC and SD cards may not read high capacity cards.
- Easy to misplace due to small form factor.
Non-removable solid-state memory
Some AVCHD camcorders come with built-in solid-state memory either as a sole media, or in addition to other media.Pros:
- Allows making a camcorder smaller if no other media is used.
- Always available for recording, in case other type of media is full or missing.
Cons:
- Because recording media is non-removable, a camcorder must be connected to a computer with a USB cable to transfer video. Usage of an AC power adapter is often needed as well.
- Non-removable media cannot be shared, sent or stored separately of the camcorder.
- If damaged or worn out, non-removable media cannot easily be replaced like a memory card.
Branding
Panasonic and Sony developed several brand names for their professional as well as simplified versions of AVCHD.AVCHD Lite
AVCHD Lite identifies a subset of AVCHD format, in which progressive-scan video is acquired at 30 frames/s with 720-line resolution. Such a video is recorded in the AVCHD 720p60 stream by using a flag telling a decoder to play each frame twice. Announced in January 2009, the Panasonic DMC-ZS3/DMC-FT1/DMC-TZ7 digital cameras were the first digital cameras to offer AVCHD-lite movie mode. Since then, Panasonic has added AVCHD-lite to more of its digital cameras, such as the Lumix GF1 Micro Four ThirdsPanasonic Lumix DMC-GF1
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 is the third camera in Panasonic's Lumix G-series, using the Micro Four Thirds System. Its body design similar to that of the recently released Olympus E-P1, the GF1 is 35% smaller than earlier G models...
, Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2
- Introduction :The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 is a digital mirrorless interchangeable lens camera adhering to the Olympus and Panasonic developed Micro Four Thirds System system design standard....
, Lumix DMC-FZ35/38
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38 is a superzoom bridge digital camera, replacing the similar Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 and earlier Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18. It is also known as the DMC-FZ35 in North America.-External links:...
, Lumix DMC-TZ10/ZS7
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ10
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ10 is a compact 'Travel Zoom' digital camera with a 12x zoom lens and GPS receiver. The camera can be connected to a USB port and weighs 218 grams.In North America, the camera is referred to by model code DMC-ZS7....
, Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX75, Panasonic LX5, LEICA D-LUX 5, LEICA V-LUX 2.
AVCCAM
Formerly known as "AVCHD with professional features," AVCCAM is the name of professional AVCHD camcorders from Panasonic's Broadcast division. Some of these professional features listed in early Panasonic advertising materials included 1/4-inch progressive 3CCD sensor, XLR microphone input, solid-state media and capability of recording at the maximum AVCHD bitrate - 24 Mbit/s. The aforementioned features are not exclusive to AVCCAM. Moreover, some of these features like CCD sensor technology have been dropped by Panasonic, while 24 Mbit/s recording rate is widely available from rival manufacturers even on consumer models.NXCAM
NXCAM is the name of Sony's professional video lineup employing the AVCHD format. NXCAM camcorders offers 1080i, 1080p and 720p recording modes. Unlike AVCCAM, NXCAM camcorders do not offer film-like frame rates — 24p, 25p, 30p — in 720p mode. On the other hand, some NXCAM models offer AVCHD Progressive recording mode, while Panasonic abstains from using this mode on its professional cameras.Playing back AVCHD video
Recorded AVCHD video can be played back in a variety of ways:- Direct playback — video can be played on a television set from a camcorder through HDMI or component-video cable.
- AVCHD disc — AVCHD video, recorded onto DVD can be played on most Blu-ray Disc players or on a PlayStation 3 gaming console.
- Blu-ray disc — AVCHD video, recorded onto Blu-ray disc can be played on most Blu-ray Disc players (see table below).
- AVCHD memory card — AVCHD video, recorded on an SDHCSecure DigitalSecure Digital is a non-volatile memory card format developed by the SD Card Association for use in portable devices. The SD technology is used by more than 400 brands across dozens of product categories and more than 8,000 models, and is considered the de-facto industry standard.Secure Digital...
or Memory Stick card can be played on select Blu-ray Disc players, HDTV sets, on a PlayStation 3 gaming console and on some other set-top media players. - USB playback — video files, recorded on an external storage device like a hard disk drive or a USB "stick" can be played on select Blu-ray Disc players, HDTV sets, PlayStation 3 gaming console, set-top media players and from a computer.
- Computer playback — any media and target format that is supported by a particular computer hardware and software can be watched on a computer monitor or TV set. Presently, the default media players from Apple (QuickTime) will not play AVCHD natively, additional (free) software is required. Some Windows 7 editions are able to import and play AVCHD video natively, having files with extensions M2TS, MTS and M2T pre-registered in the system. (Windows 7 starter edition does not support AVCHD files itself, and a third-party player must be installed.) In editions of Windows 7 which do support AVCHD files, Windows Media Player is able to index content of these files, while Windows Explorer is able to create thumbnails for each clip. Windows 7 does not support importing of AVCHD video metadata such as thumbnail images, playlists, and clip index files. Joining AVCHD video files during the import is not supported either. Notably, the open-source VLC media playerVLC media playerVLC media player is a free and open source media player and multimedia framework written by the VideoLAN project.VLC is a portable multimedia player, encoder, and streamer supporting many audio and video codecs and file formats as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It is able to...
will play AVCHD video files, as well as a wide variety of additional formats, and is freely available for most modern operating systems and some mobile platforms.
Compatibility within brands
There is a known incompatibility within the Panasonic brand. The original HD Writer importing and editing software, which was shipped from 2006 to 2008, cannot recognize the current 1080i format or the newer formats like 1080p50 or 1080p60. The newer HD Writer AE can read the newer 1080i format and versions 2 and higher can read 1080p (in both frame rates).AVCHD as distribution format
DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
disc with AVCHD video recorded on it is known as AVCHD disc. AVCHD discs cannot be played in a standard DVD player, but can be played in many Blu-ray Disc players. Smooth playback is not guaranteed if overall data rate exceeds 18 Mbit/s. It is possible to create simple menus similar to menus used for DVD-video discs.
AVCHD content can also be recorded on SDHC cards and played by many television sets, Blu-ray Disc players and media consoles. Data rate on memory cards is officially limited to 24 Mbit/s.
AVCHD specification does not officially support Blu-ray Disc media, though some software packages allow authoring AVCHD content on Blu-ray Discs. For better compatibility with Blu-ray Disc players AVCHD video can be authored on Blu-ray Disc media as Blu-ray Disc video. Authoring a Blu-ray Disc video title does not require re-encoding of AVCHD audio and video streams. The resultant disc will play in any Blu-ray Disc player including those that do not explicitly support the AVCHD format.
Many software vendors support AVCHD mastering. In particular:
- Cyberlink PowerProducer can author a compliant AVCHD disc, or BDMV on DVD media.
- Ulead DVD MovieFactory Plus 6 with HD Power Pack can master AVCHD discs with menus.
- Various Sonic products can author AVCHD discs using HD/BD Plug-in.
- Compressor 3.5 is capable of authoring AVCHD discs; subtitles are not supported.
- Nero Vision 9 can create an AVCHD disc with data rate up to 18 Mbit/s, or an AVCHD-compliant folder for distribution on an HDD or a memory card with data rate up to 24 Mbit/s.
- Sony DVD Architect 5 can author AVCHD-compliant discs with menus using AVC encoding as well as non-standard discs using MPEG-2 encoding. In both cases data rate is limited to 18 Mbit/s.
- Panasonic HD Writer AE can author AVCHD content on DVDs, BD discs and on SD cards.
- MultiAVCHD can author AVCHD discs as well as Panasonic-compliant AVCHD memory cards.
- Magix Movie Edit Pro 15 Plus with updates can author AVCHD content on DVDs, BD discs.
- Pinnacle Studio 11.1.2 and higher offers AVCHD disc output.
Blu-ray Disc players with "AVCHD" logo play AVCHD discs authored either on 8 cm or 12 cm DVDs. Players without such a logo are not guaranteed to play AVCHD discs.
Compatibility with Blu-ray Disc players
Although AVCHD shares many format similarities with Blu-ray Disc, it is not part of the Blu-ray specification. Consequently, AVCHD-playback is not universally supported across all Blu-ray Disc players. In addition, non-standard developments such as 1080-line 50p/60p recording mode employed in some camcorders, are neither AVCHD- nor Blu-ray compliant.As the creators of AVCHD, Sony and Panasonic support AVCHD playback in their Blu-ray Disc players. In particular, the Sony BDP-S1
Sony BDP-S1
The Sony BDP-S1 is a first generation Blu-ray Disc Player. It was first released in North America. It was originally scheduled for release in the United States on August 18, 2006 with a MSRP of $999.95. Sony had postponed the release date of this player several times and it was released on...
, Sony BDP-S300, Sony BD507, the Panasonic DMP-BD10, the Panasonic DMP-BD30K, the Panasonic DMP-BD35, the Panasonic DMP-BD60K, the Panasonic DMP-BD80K, and the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
can play AVCHD discs. In addition, some Panasonic and JVC Blu-ray Disc players (e.g. Panasonic DMP-BD60K, Panasonic DMP-BD80K) support AVCHD playback from SDHC memory cards.
In one instance, AVCHD playback was removed from a Blu-ray Disc player already on the market, the Samsung BD-P1200. Firmware update 2.3 removed AVCHD support from the BD-P1200.
| Make and model | Media | AVCHD Progressive | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| LG BD570/BD560 | Recordable DVD | Yes | |
| LG BD370 | Recordable DVD | Yes | No playback from USB |
| Oppo BDP-83 | Recordable DVD, USB | No info | Supports AVCHD playback from a USB device; also supports the main menu. |
| Oppo BDP-93 | Recordable DVD, USB | Yes | As of firmware revision 1108. |
| Panasonic DMP-BD60/BD80 | Recordable DVD, SD card | Partial | AVCHD Progressive does not play from the original memory card, but plays when "rewrapped" with a tool like tsMuxer; plays with hiccups from a DVD-R disc, plays normally from an SD card. |
| Panasonic DMP-BD85/BD65/BD45 | Recordable DVD, SD card | No info | |
| Pioneer BDP-51FD | Recordable DVD | Partial | DVDs recorded in the AVCHD format can be played. AVCHD Progressive video plays with hiccups. |
| Pioneer BDP-320 | Recordable DVD | Yes | DVDs recorded in the AVCHD format can be played. AVCHD Progressive videos can be played (firmware revision 3.69a). |
| Samsung BD-P1400 | Recordable DVD | No info | Supports playback of AVCHD discs as of firmware release 1.6. |
| Seiki BD660 | Recordable DVD | Yes | Plays AVCHD discs including AVCHD Progressive (firmware release BDP V4.2 F6). |
| Sony BDP-S270/S370/S470/S570 | Recordable DVD, USB | Yes | Plays AVCHD, including AVCHD Progressive, from DVD and USB media (firmware release M04.R.735). |
| Sony PlayStation 3 | Recordable DVD, USB | Yes | |
| Toshiba BDX2000 | Recordable DVD, SD card | No info | Supports playback of AVCHD format files recorded on disc or SD card |
Canon
Depending on model, Canon camcorders offer 1080-line interlaced, PsF, and native 24p recording.- HR10 (DVD)
- 2007: HG10 (40 GB HDD)
- April 2008: HF10 (SDHC, built-in 16GB flash memory), HF100 (SDHC)
- September 2008: HF11 (SDHC, built-in 32GB flash memory), HG20 (60GB HDD, SDHC), HG21 (120GB HDD, SDHC)
- January 2009: HF S10 (SDHC, built-in 32GB flash memory), HF S100 (SDHC), HF20 (SDHC, built-in 32GB flash memory), HF200 (SDHC)
- August 2009: HF S11 (SDHC, built-in 64GB flash memory, wired LANC remote capability)
- January 2010: HF S21 (two SDHC slots, 64GB flash memory, electronic viewfinder), HF S20 (two SDHC slots, 32GB flash memory), HF S200 (two SDHC slots); HF M31 (SDHC, 32GB flash memory), HF M30 (SDHC, 8GB flash memory), HF M300 (SDHC); HF R11 (32GB flash memory), HF R10 (SDHC, 8GB flash memory), HF R100 (SDHC)
- April 2011: CAnon HF-G10 camcoder with 1/3" image sensor
JVC
- June 2008: GZ-HD10 (HDD, MicroSDHC), GZ-HD30/GZ-HD40(HDD, MicroSDHC card, dual AVCHD and TODMOD and TOD (video format)MOD and TOD are recording formats for use in digital tapeless camcorders. The formats are comparable to XDCAM EX, HDV and AVCHD.-Overview:...
recording) - January 2009: GZ-HD320 (120 GB HDD, MicroSD), GZ-HD300 (60 GB HDD, MicroSD), GZ-HM200 (dual SDHC)
- February 2009: GZ-X900 (SD/SDHC card)
- September 2009: GZ-HM300, GZ-HM400
- December 2009: GZ-HD620
- March 2010: GZ-HM1
- Spring 2011: GZ-HM30 (pre-released December 2010)
Panasonic
Panasonic AVCHD camcorders offer interlaced, progressive scan or native progressive recording and combinations of these modes depending on a particular model. 1080-line and 720-line recording is possible depending on a model.Panasonic AVCHD camcorders use AVC with High Profile @ Level 4.0 for all modes except 1080p50/1080p60, which are encoded with High Profile @ Level 4.2. Maximum data rate is limited to 24 Mbit/s for AVCCAM models, to 17 Mbit/s for most consumer models and to 28 Mbit/s for 1080p50/1080p60 recording modes.
- December 2006: HDC-DX1 (DVD), HDC-SD1 (SDHC)
- HDC-SD3 (SDHC, available in Japan only)
- AG-HSC1U (SDHC, comes with portable 40 GB HDD storage)
- August 2007: HDC-SD5 (SDHC), HDC-SX5 (DVD, SDHC), HDC-SD7 (SDHC)
- January 2008: HDC-SD9 (SDHC), HDC-HS9 (60 GB HDD, SDHC)
- April 2008: AG-HMC70 (SDHC)
- June 2008: HDC-SD100 (SDHC), HDC-HS100 (60 GB HDD, SDHC)
- September 2008: AG-HMC150 (SDHC)
- January 2009: HDC-HS300 (120 GB HDD), HDC-HS200 (80 GB HDD), HDC-TM300 (32 GB built-in flash memory, SDHC), HDC-SD300 (SDHC, available in Europe only), HDC-SD200 (SDHC).
- June 2009: HDC-TM30/HDC-TM10 (32 GB built-in flash memory, SDHC), HDC-SD10 (SDHC)
- June 2009: HDC-TM350 (64 GB built-in flash memory, SDHC, available in Japan and as of October 2009, from Panasonic Stores across the UK)
- September 2009: AG-HMC40 (SDHC)
- February 2010: HDC-TM700/HDC-SD700/HDC-HS700 (introduced 1080p60/1080p50 modes, depending on region)
- March 2010: HDC-SD60/HDC-TM60/HDC-HS60
- December 2010: AG-AF100/AG-AF101/AG-AF102 (4/3" large sensor camera)
- September 2011: AG-AC130/AG-AC160 (SDXC/SDHC/SD)
In 2009 Panasonic introduced AVCHD Lite and AVCHD to selected members of its Lumix line of digital cameras:
- 2009: DMC-ZS3/TZ7*, DMC-TS1/DMC-FT1* (AVCHD Lite)
- 2009: DMC-GH1Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 is a digital mirrorless interchangeable lens camera adhering to the Olympus and Panasonic developed Micro Four Thirds System system design standard...
(AVCHD) - 2010: Lumix DMC-ZS7/TZ10*, DMC-G2 (AVCHD lite)
- 2010: Lumix DMC-GH2Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 is a digital camera with HD video recording capability that uses the Micro Four Thirds System. Though commonly referred to as a DSLR camera, it has no mirror or optical viewfinder, but has instead both a fold-out LCD screen and a electronic viewfinder...
, DMC-GF2 (AVCHD) - 2011: Lumix DMC-ZS10/TZ20* (AVCHD lite)
- 2011: Lumix DMC-FX77/FX78*, DMC-TS3*, DMC-FZ45/47/48*
- 2011: Lumix DMC-GF2, DMC-G3/GF3 (AVCHD)
Sony
Consumer Sony AVCHD camcorders released before 2011 could record 1080-line interlaced video only, while the prosumer HDR-AX2000 and professional HXR-NX5 cameras were capable of recording in interlaced and progressive formats.Released in March 2011, the Sony NEX-FS100 is the first professional NXCAM camcorder capable of 1080p50/p60 recording; consumer-grade HandyCam NEX-VG20 followed in August 2011.
The list of AVCHD camcoders includes:
- September 2006: HDR-UX1 (DVD), HDR-UX3/UX5 (DVD), HDR-UX7 (DVD)
- October 2006: HDR-SR1 (30 GB HDD)
- June 2007: HDR-SR5 (40 GB HDD), HDR-SR7 (60 GB HDD)
- July 2007: HDR-SR5C (100 GB HDD), HDR-SR8 (100 GB HDD)
- Summer 2007: HDR-CX7 (Memory Stick Duo)
- March 2008: HDR-SR10 (40GB HDD, Memory Stick), HDR-SR11 (60 GB HDD, Memory Stick), HDR-SR12 (120 GB HDD, Memory Stick)
- HDR-TG1/TG3/TG7 (Memory Stick Duo)
- August 2008: HDR-CX12 (Memory Stick Duo)
- March 2009: HDR-XR520V (240 GB HDD), HDR-XR500V (120 GB HDD Version)
- March 2009: HDR-XR200V (120 GB HDD)
- March 2009: HDR-XR200VE (120 GB HDD + GPSGlobal Positioning SystemThe Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...
) - March 2009: HDR-XR100 (80 GB HDD)
- July 2009: HDR-CX500E, HDR-CX520E
- October 2009: HDR-CX105 (8GB Memory Stick Duo)
- January 2010: HXR-NX5, HDR-AX2000.
- March 2010: HDR-XR550 (240 GB HDD)
- June 2010: Sony NEX-5Sony NEX-5The Sony NEX-5 is a digital camera launched on 11 May 2010 . It is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera with the body of a common point-and-shoot camera but with the sensor size and features of an APS-C-sized digital single-lens reflex camera...
, NEX-5C (without Eye-Fi support), of both models, variants with AVCHD 1080 50i and AVCHD 1080 60i only exist - July 2010: Sony HXR-MC50E.
- March 2011: Sony NEX-FS100
- August 2011: NEX-VG20
In 2010 Sony introduced AVCHD to selected members of its Cybershot line of digital cameras.
- January 2010: Sony DSC-HX5V (GPS+COMPASS), HX5V-E (European version, limited to 30 minutes recording due to European specific taxes)
- March 2011: Sony DSC-HX9V (GPS+COMPASS), HX9V-E (European version, limited to 30 minutes recording due to European specific taxes)
Codecs
- ffdshowFfdshowffdshow is a media decoder and encoder mainly used for the fast and high-quality decoding of video in the MPEG-4 ASP and AVC formats, but it supports numerous other video and audio formats as well...
is a free, Open Source collection of codecs, including an AVCHD decoder. - CoreAVCCoreAVCCoreAVC is a proprietary codec for decoding the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video format.The decoder is currently one of the fastest software decoders, but is slower than hardware-based ones. CoreAVC supports all H.264 Profiles except for 4:2:2 and 4:4:4.CoreAVC now supports two forms of GPU hardware...
is an H.264 decoder for Windows, which can decode AVCHD as well as a variety of other H.264 formats.
Converters
- Badaboom is a media converter that uses NVIDIANVIDIANvidia is an American global technology company based in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia is best known for its graphics processors . Nvidia and chief rival AMD Graphics Techonologies have dominated the high performance GPU market, pushing other manufacturers to smaller, niche roles...
GPUs to accelerate conversion of AVCHD to mobile devices. - HandBrakeHandBrakeHandBrake is a general-purpose, open-source, cross-platform, multithreaded video transcoder software application. HandBrake was originally developed by titer in 2003 as a general-purpose video transcoder to make ripping a film from a DVD to a data storage device easier...
will convert AVCHD Lite format to MP4 and MKV (tested on OSX; other versions available), AVI and OGM are supported in versions before 0.9.4. - Roxio Toast 10 Titanium on Mac OS X will convert AVCHD to most computer formats presently available.
- Total video converterTotal video converterTotal Video Converter is a shareware video and audio converter utility from EffectMatrix. It is commonly used to convert most fashionable video formats for various video players as well as show photos slide and burn the converted video to DVD/SVCD/VCD. Started from version 2.21, Total Video...
is a converter for most video formats, including converting from AVCHD and burning AVCHD disc.
Editors
The following video-editing software features support for the AVCHD format:- AvidAVIDAVID stands for:* Advancement Via Individual Determination, a college-readiness system designed to increase the number of students who enroll in four-year colleges in the U.S....
Media Composer (version 5.5.x and earlier) supports AVCHD via transcode import. AMA linking has been announced for Avid Media Composer 6. - Adobe Premiere ProAdobe Premiere ProAdobe Premiere Pro is a timeline-based video editing software application. It is part of the Adobe Creative Suite, a suite of graphic design, video editing, and web development applications developed by Adobe Systems, though it can also be purchased separately. When purchased separately, it comes...
(from version CS4 onwards). - Elemental Accelerator is a third party plug-in for Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 that converts AVCHD to various H.264 or MPEG-2 formats.
- Adobe Premiere ElementsAdobe Premiere ElementsAdobe Premiere Elements is a video editing software application for nonlinear video editing, published by Adobe Systems. It is a scaled-down version of the professional-level Adobe Premiere Pro, and is optionally bundled with Adobe Photoshop Elements. In 2006, it was identified as the number one...
(version 7 through 9 only support import, no AVCHD output), version 10 supports AVCHD output. - Apple's Final Cut Pro X natively supports AVCHD through Import From Camera.
- Apple's Final Cut ProFinal Cut ProFinal Cut Pro is a non-linear video editing software developed by Macromedia Inc. and then Apple Inc. The most recent version, Final Cut Pro X, runs on Mac personal computers powered by Mac OS X version 10.6.7 or later and using Intel processors...
for Mac OS X. The latest version of Final Cut Pro 7 claims better integration with Apple's other professional applications and improved codec support for editing HD, DV and SD video formats, including encoding presets for devices such as iPod, Apple TV, and Blu-ray Discs. - Apple's Final Cut Express 4Final Cut ExpressFinal Cut Express is a discontinued video editing software created by Apple Inc. It is the consumer version of Final Cut Pro and is designed for advanced editing of digital video as well as high-definition video, which is used by many amateur and professional videographers...
, Final Cut Pro 6.0.1Final Cut ProFinal Cut Pro is a non-linear video editing software developed by Macromedia Inc. and then Apple Inc. The most recent version, Final Cut Pro X, runs on Mac personal computers powered by Mac OS X version 10.6.7 or later and using Intel processors...
, and iMovie '08-'09IMovieiMovie is a proprietary video editing software application which allows Mac, iPod Touch 4th generation, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPad 2 users to edit their own home movies. It was originally released by Apple in 1999 as a Mac OS 8 application bundled with the first FireWire-enabled consumer Apple...
(iMovie is bundled with all new Apple computers; Final Cut Express and Pro are sold separately) do not support editing of AVCHD clips directly. Imported AVCHD clips are automatically converted into the Apple Intermediate Codec format, which requires more hard disk space (40GB per hour as opposed to 13.5GB per hour for Standard Definition DV), a more powerful machine (an Intel-based Mac), and a more recent OS (Mac OS X 10.5). Final Cut Pro 6.0.5 "logs and transfers" the footage from AVCHD to AppleProRes by default and also gives the option of converting to the Apple Intermediate CodecApple Intermediate CodecThe Apple Intermediate Codec abbreviated AIC is a video codec designed by Apple Inc. to be an intermediate format in an HDV workflow. It features high performance and quality, being less processor intensive to work with than other editing formats...
. It does not allow native transferring of the *.m2ts clips nor directly editing them. The latest release of Apple's iLife suite (specifically, iMovie) has added support for AVCHD Lite cameras and camcorders. It automatically imports AVCHD files when attaching a supported camera to the computer, and it can import older MTS or M2TS files that have been rewrapped (see above) e.g. as m4v. - AVS Video EditorAVS Video EditorAVS Video Editor is a shareware video editing software tool produced by Online Media Technologies Ltd., the direct vendor of multimedia video and audio solutions, UK. The program is intended for those who are new to video editing, it also is a real-time, timeline-based video editing software...
supports videos from HD-cameras(HD Video (inc. AVCHD, MPEG-2 HD and WMV HD), TOD, MOD, M2TS.) Burn AVCHD video to CD-R/RW, DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW, DVD-RAM, Double/Dual Layer on Windows XP, 2003, Vista, 7 (no Mac OS/Linux support). - Blender supports the AVCHD format on Windows and Linux systems (using a FFmpegFFmpegFFmpeg is a free software project that produces libraries and programs for handling multimedia data. The most notable parts of FFmpeg are libavcodec, an audio/video codec library used by several other projects, libavformat, an audio/video container mux and demux library, and the ffmpeg command line...
decoder). Blender has a little-known, very powerful video editing system with infinite layer bit-depth and integration with the 3D editing component. BlenderAVC streamlines the process of importing the files, as it is difficult and bug-prone without AVS scripts. Blender supports proxy editing at down to 25% scaling, which helps when editing AVCHD video, which is slow. - CorelCorelCorel Corporation from the abbreviation is a computer software company headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, that specializes in graphics processing, similar to Adobe Systems...
VideoStudioUlead VideoStudioCorel VideoStudio is a video editing software package for Microsoft Windows distributed by Ulead Systems . The latest version of the software is X4 released on February 24, 2011.-Basic editing:...
supports importing, rendering and burning of AVCHD format in Windows system. - ElecardElecardElecard is a technology company that provides software products for video and audio encoding, decoding, processing, receiving and transmission....
AVC HD Editor affords reordering, trimming and merging of AVCHD clips without the need for transcoding. - Cyberlink PowerDirector 7PowerDirectorCyberLink PowerDirector is a video editing software application for non-linear video editing, published by CyberLink Corporation. PowerDirector allows users to capture, edit and output from within the software and has semi-professional features suitable for the consumer level...
is capable of editing AVCHD natively, without transcoding, intermediate formats or proxy files. Using a patented technique (SVRT), AVCHD clips can be edited and output losslessly to AVCHD or Blu-ray Disc. PowerDirector also supports GPU encoding acceleration on both ATI and NVidia graphics platforms. PowerDirector can output the finished movie to a variety of video formats, DVD, AVCHD on DVD, or Blu-ray Disc. - Grass Valley's EdiusEdiusEDIUS is a video editing software package originally developed by the Japanese based Canopus Corporation until 2005, when the Canopus Corporation was sold to Grass Valley.EDIUS is a non-linear editor that works with most modern video formats....
5.5 and EdiusEdiusEDIUS is a video editing software package originally developed by the Japanese based Canopus Corporation until 2005, when the Canopus Corporation was sold to Grass Valley.EDIUS is a non-linear editor that works with most modern video formats....
Neo 2 - Microsoft's Windows Live Movie MakerWindows Live Movie MakerWindows Live Movie Maker is a video creating/editing software that is a part of Microsoft's Windows Live initiative. It is intended to replace Windows Movie Maker that is currently included in Windows Vista...
(importing only) - Dayang's Montage ExtremeMontage ExtremeMontage Extreme, sometimes abbreviated as ME, is a video editing software package originally developed by Dayang Corporation ME is a non-linear editor which can handle nearly all HD and SD video formats on a mixed timeline and output to most modern delivery formats, including standard DVDs and...
[ME] 1.2 - Nero Ultra Edition EnhancedNero Burning ROMNero Multimedia Suite is a popular software suite for Microsoft Windows by Nero AG . Version 10 of this product was released in April 2010.- Included products :The following applications are included in Nero 11 :Disc authoring...
(from version 7 onwards) includes the Nero Vision editor and the Nero Showtime player, which both support AVCHD files. NeroVision can author DVDs in the AVCHD format. - Pinnacle Studio PlusPinnacle StudioPinnacle Studio is a non-linear video editing software application manufactured by Pinnacle Systems, a division of Avid Technology. It is the consumer-level counterpart to Pinnacle's former professional-level software, Liquid Edition . It also inherits from VOB Computersysteme's Instant CD/DVD...
(from version 11 onwards) - Sony Vegas 7.0eSony VegasSony Vegas is a professional video editing software package for non-linear editing systems originally published by Sonic Foundry, now owned and run by Sony Creative Software. Originally developed as an audio editor, it eventually developed into an NLE for video and audio from version 2.0...
- Vegas ProSony VegasSony Vegas is a professional video editing software package for non-linear editing systems originally published by Sonic Foundry, now owned and run by Sony Creative Software. Originally developed as an audio editor, it eventually developed into an NLE for video and audio from version 2.0...
(from version 8 onwards) - Vegas Movie Studio PlatinumSony Vegas Movie StudioSony Vegas Movie Studio is a consumer-based nonlinear video editing software designed for the PC. It is a scaled-down version of Sony Vegas. Vegas Movie Studio was formerly called "Sonic Foundry VideoFactory" and then "Sony Screenblast Movie Studio," still using the same Vegas interface and...
(from version 8 onwards) - KdenliveKdenliveKdenlive is an open source video editing software package based on the MLT Framework that focuses on flexibility and ease of use...
for Linux and BSD platforms - Openshot Video editor for Linux
- Other developers have pledged their support but it may still take some time for the implementation.
Open Source codecs
The following open source codecs can decode AVCHD files:- ffdshow tryouts, revision 1971 May 23, 2008, will decode AVC (H.264) format video.
- libavcodecLibavcodeclibavcodec is a free software/open source LGPL-licensed library of codecs for encoding and decoding video and audio data. Same name but incompatible libraries are provided from both FFmpeg project and Libav project....
(part of FFmpeg project) is a codec library that supports AVCHD. It is used in Jahshaka and Blender, notably.
Specifications
| Video | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subtype | High Definition (AVCHD-HD) |
Standard Definition (AVCHD-SD) |
||
| Frame size in pixels | 1920×1080 1440×1080 |
1280 x 720 | 720×480 | 720×576 |
| Frame rate | 29.97, interlaced 25, interlaced 23.976, progressive |
59.94, progressive 50, progressive 23.976, progressive |
29.97, interlaced | 25, interlaced |
| Frame aspect ratio | 16:9 | 4:3, 16:9 | ||
| Video Compression | MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 H.264/MPEG-4 AVC H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC is a standard for video compression, and is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video... |
|||
| Luminance sampling frequency | 74.25 MHz 55.7 MHz |
74.25 MHz | 13.5 MHz | 13.5 MHz |
| Chroma sampling format | 4:2:0 | |||
| Quantization | 8 bits (both luminance and chrominance Chrominance Chrominance is the signal used in video systems to convey the color information of the picture, separately from the accompanying luma signal . Chrominance is usually represented as two color-difference components: U = B' − Y' and V = R' − Y'... ) |
|||
| Audio (Dolby Digital) | ||||
| AC-3 Compression | Dolby Digital (AC-3 Dolby Digital Dolby Digital is the name for audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. It was originally called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994. Except for Dolby TrueHD, the audio compression is lossy. The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35mm film prints... ) |
|||
| AC-3 channel mode | 1-5.1 channels | |||
| AC-3 compressed bitstream rate | 64 to 640 kbit/s | |||
| Audio (PCM) | ||||
| PCM linear | PCM uncompressed audio | |||
| PCM channel mode | 1-7.1 channels | |||
| PCM bitrate | 1.5 Mbit/s (2 channels) | |||
| System | ||||
| Stream type | MPEG transport stream | |||
| System data rate | up to 18 Mbit/s (DVD media) up to 24 Mbit/s (all other media) |
|||
| File extension (generally) | mts (on camcorder), m2ts .m2ts M2TS is a filename extension used for the Blu-ray Disc Audio-Video MPEG-2 Transport Stream container file format. It is used for multiplexing audio, video and other streams. It is based on the MPEG-2 transport stream container... (after import to computer) |
|||
| Media | 8 cm optical media (DVD) SD/SDHC Memory Card "Memory Stick" Built-in hard-disk or flash Media |
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Specification addendum (AVCHD 2.0)
AVCHD 2.0 adds support for the following recording modes:| Video | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subtype | AVCHD Progressive | AVCHD 3D (stereoscopic) | ||
| Frame size in pixels | 1440×1080 | 1920×1080 | 1280 x 720 | 1920×1080 |
| Frame rate | 59.94, progressive 50, progressive |
59.94, progressive 50, progressive |
23.976, progressive 25, interlaced 29.97, interlaced |
|
| Frame aspect ratio | 16:9 | |||
| Video Compression | MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 H.264/MPEG-4 AVC H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC is a standard for video compression, and is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video... |
|||
| Luminance sampling frequency | 111.4 MHz | 148.5 MHz | 74.25 MHz | |
| Chroma sampling format | 4:2:0 | |||
| Quantization | 8 bits (both luminance and chrominance Chrominance Chrominance is the signal used in video systems to convey the color information of the picture, separately from the accompanying luma signal . Chrominance is usually represented as two color-difference components: U = B' − Y' and V = R' − Y'... ) |
|||
| Audio (Dolby Digital) | ||||
| AC-3 Compression | Dolby Digital (AC-3 Dolby Digital Dolby Digital is the name for audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. It was originally called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994. Except for Dolby TrueHD, the audio compression is lossy. The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35mm film prints... ) |
|||
| AC-3 channel mode | 1-5.1 channels | |||
| AC-3 compressed bitstream rate | 64 to 640 kbit/s | |||
| Audio (PCM) | ||||
| PCM linear | PCM uncompressed audio | |||
| PCM channel mode | 1-7.1 channels | |||
| PCM bitrate | 1.5 Mbit/s (2 channels) | |||
| System | ||||
| Stream type | MPEG transport stream | |||
| System data rate | up to 28 Mbit/s | |||
| File extension (generally) | mts (on camcorder), m2ts .m2ts M2TS is a filename extension used for the Blu-ray Disc Audio-Video MPEG-2 Transport Stream container file format. It is used for multiplexing audio, video and other streams. It is based on the MPEG-2 transport stream container... (after import to computer) |
|||
| Media | SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card "Memory Stick" Built-in hard-disk or flash Media |
|||
See also
- AVC-IntraAVC-IntraAVC-Intra is a type of video coding developed by Panasonic that is fully compliant with the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC standard and additionally follows the SMPTE RP 2027-2007 recommended practice specification....
: an intra-frame video format based on AVC compression scheme, offered on professional Panasonic video cameras. - iFrameIFrame (video format)iFrame is a digital video format, developed by Apple. It is based on existing industry standards, such as AVC/H.264, AAC and QuickTime, and can be used with compatible Mac and PC applications.The format has been created to simplify video editing...
: an intra-frame video format based on AVC compression scheme, marketed by Apple and offered on some consumer camcorders. - AVCRECAVCRECAVCREC is a format for recording and playback of high definition video in BDAV format using conventional DVD recordable discs as recording media...
: a standard to allow recording of broadcast HD programming on recordable DVDs using AVC encoding scheme. - Comparison of video editing softwareComparison of video editing softwareThis is a comparison of non-linear video editing software applications. See also a more complete list of video editing software.-General information:This table gives basic general information about the different editors:- System requirements :...