AVCHD

AVCHD logo

AVCHD (Advanced Video Coding High Definition) is a format for the recording and playback of high definition video.

Developed jointly by Sony and Panasonic, the format was announced in 2006 primarily for use in high definition consumer camcorders. Recording media includes DVD discs, hard disk drives, non-removable solid-state memory and removable flash memory such as Secure Digital and Memory Stick cards.

Sony and Panasonic released the first AVCHD camcorders in autumn of 2006, followed by Canon and JVC. Favorable comparisons of AVCHD against HDV and XDCAM EX solidified perception of AVCHD as a format acceptable for professional usage. As the standard matured, Panasonic released the first professional AVCHD camcorder in autumn of 2008, followed by Sony in the first quarter of 2010.

AVCHD has been designed to be compatible with Blu-ray Disc format and can be used for authoring and distributing of high definition video on DVD media, though not all Blu-ray Disc players are compatible with AVCHD discs.

AVCHD and its logo are trademarks of Panasonic corporation and Sony corporation.

Overview

File organization on Panasonic and Canon solid-state AVCHD camcorders

AVCHD utilizes MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 (AVC) video coding and either Dolby AC-3 (Dolby Digital) or uncompressed linear PCM audio coding. Uncompressed audio is not supported in existing consumer devices, but is offered in several professional models.

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 FAT32 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, known Canon and Panasonic implementations use legacy "8.3" file naming convention, while Blu-ray Discs utilize long filenames. Another difference is location of the BDMV directory, which contains media files (BDMV: Blu-ray Disc Movie). 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 recordings can be transferred to a computer by connecting the camcorder via the USB connection. Removable media like SDHC and Memory Stick cards or DVD discs 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.

Media

AVCHD specification allows using recordable DVD discs, memory cards, non-removable solid-state memory and hard disk drives as recording media. AVCHD camcorders are file-based and do not use magnetic tape.

DVD disc

Conventional 12 cm disc (left) compared to 8 cm disc (right)

When AVCHD standard was first announced, recordable DVD disc 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:

• 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 as immediate backup media, can be stored separately from a camcorder.

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.
• 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.
• DVDs are very susceptible to vibration.
• 8 cm DVDs cannot be used in many slot-loading drives and may even damage the drive.
• Unlike HDDs and memory cards, the capacity of DVD discs has reached its limit.

As capacity of memory cards grew while their price dropped, DVD discs quickly fell out of favor. No DVD-based AVCHD camcorders have been produced since 2008.

While DVD discs are no longer used for acquisition, they are becoming popular as distribution media for playback on Blu-ray Disc players. Many authoring programs offer "AVCHD" profile for authoring high definition video and burning it on a DVD disc in format compatible with most Blu-ray Disc players.

Hard disk drive

Canon HG10 HDD-based AVCHD camcorder

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 HDDs ranges from 30 GB to 240 GB.

Pros:

• Higher capacity than other media types, which allows for longer continuous recording.

Cons:

• Sensitive to atmospheric pressure. Most HDD-based camcorders cannot be operated at altitudes above 10,000 feet (3,000 m).
• 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.
• Despite that HDDs may have faster internal data transfer rate than DVDs and memory cards, the camcorder-to-computer transfer speed is limited by USB interface.
• Replacing a damaged HDD requires disassembling a camcorder and cannot be done by a consumer.

Solid-state memory card

Canon HF100 camcorder with a partially inserted Secure Digital card

Many tapeless camcorders record to memory cards, such as SD/SDHC cards or "Memory Stick" cards. 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.

Historically, flash memory capacity and pricing have improved steadily since introduction to the consumer market.

Panasonic and Sony chose removable flash memory as recording media in their professional AVCHD lineups, AVCCAM and NXCAM respectively.

Pros:

• Compact and lightweight.
• Does not require time for spin-up and initialization, always ready for recording.
• 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.
• There is no need for tape or disc transport, thus 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}
• MLC cards are less reliable for long term storage than SLC cards because of narrower acceptable level of discharge.
• 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 be replaced like a memory card.

Video formats

AVCHD specification allows for both high definition and standard definition recording. For high definition, all major variations are supported, including 720p, 1080i and 1080p.

Standard definition recording

No camcorder released to date uses AVCHD for recording of standard definition video. Sony camcorders that offer standard definition recording use the MPEG-2 compression in a format that is compatible with the DVD-Video specification. Some consumer Panasonic models record standard definition video using the MJPEG format storing it in a QuickTime container, while the professional AG-HMC80 camcorder records standard definition video in a proven DV format.

720p

The AVCHD specification supports 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. Compared to HDV 720p, AVCHD uses higher data rate (up to 24 Mbit/s VBR vs. 19.6 Mbit/s CBR) and a more advanced compression format (AVC vs. MPEG-2).

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).

In the professional market, the AG-HMC150 and AG-HMC40 were the first AVCHD models to offer 720p recording in addition to 1080i and 1080p. They have been joined with the NXCAM models from Sony.

1080i

An example of interlace combing

All AVCHD camcorders except for AVCHD Lite models are capable of recording 1080i interlaced video. For some models this is the only recording mode offered. Early models captured anamorphic video with horizontal resolution reduced to 1440 pixels. Newer models offer higher data rate and full 1920x1080 resolution, while in some cases keeping the anamorphic format for use with lower recording data rates.

Interlaced video had been originally designed for watching on a cathode-ray tube TV. It can lose resolution or exhibit combing or ghosting artifacts when it is watched on a computer or another progressive-scan device, rescaled or filmed out. To avoid such interlace artifacts, interlaced video must be deinterlaced. This can be done either in post-production or in real time during playback.

All modern flat-panel television sets have built-in deinterlacing engine, so deinterlacing is not required if video is distributed for TV viewing. When watching interlaced video on a computer some software video players simply blend two fields of each interlaced frame together, causing combing; when such video is scaled down it may exhibit ghosting instead of combing. Better codecs and media players either use content-adaptive algorithms or allow choosing a deinterlacing scheme manually. Video hosting websites like YouTube use progressive scanning for streaming videos, and automatically deinterlace interlaced videos. Automatic deinterlacing does not always produces the best possible quality, thus YouTube suggests its users to deinterlace their videos prior to uploading.

Some 1080i AVCHD camcorders can capture progressive video and record it within an 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 and in the Panasonic GH1 hybrid digital still/video camera for recording 24-frame 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.

1080p

Native Progressive logo (Canon)

In the professional and prosumer markets, AVCHD camcorders such as the Panasonic AG-HMC150, the Panasonic AG-HMC40, the Sony HDR-AX2000 and the Sony HXR-NX5U, are capable of recording in all three high definition formats: 1080i, 1080p and 720p. Sony camcorders do not support film-like frame rates — 24p, 25p, 30p — in 720p mode.

In the consumer market, 60 Hz versions of the Panasonic HDC-SD9/HDC-HS9, Panasonic HDC-HS100/HDC-SD100 and Canon HF S21/HF S20/HF S200 models are capable of recording native 1080p24 video. Panasonic models have no visual designation of 24p capability, whereas the Canon models have a prominent 24p Native Progressive mark.

In 2010, Panasonic introduced a new lineup of consumer AVCHD camcorders (HDC-HS700/HDC-TM700/HDC-SD700) with 1080-line 50p/60p progressive-scan mode (frame rate depending on region). While this mode is not compliant with current AVCHD specification, it uses the same compression schemes for video and audio, packaged into the same container and stored in the same folder as AVCHD-compliant files. Panasonic advises that not all players that support AVCHD playback can play 1080-line 50p/60p video.

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 HD-recording is limited to 720p/30. The 720p/30 video is recorded in the AVCHD 720p/60 format by storing every other frame, and using a bitstream flag to tell the playback device 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 Thirds, Lumix DMC-FZ35/38, Lumix DMC-TZ10/ZS7, Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX75, and Panasonic LX5.

AVCCAM

File:Panasonic AG-HMC150P.jpg

Panasonic AG-HMC150 AVCCAM camcorder

AVCCAM is the name of Panasonic Broadcast’s professional video lineup employing the AVCHD format. Before Panasonic adopted this name, it used to describe its professional AVCHD-based models as "AVCHD with professional features".

There are no major differences in video stream encoding or in the file structure between AVCCAM and AVCHD. Professional features of AVCCAM, outlined by Panasonic in its marketing materials, such as 1/4-inch progressive CCD sensors or XLR microphone inputs or solid-state media, are not unique to AVCCAM. Many of these professional features are not unique to AVCHD either. Some features are being lost in newer models, for example, the AG-HMC40 uses 3MOS imaging system instead of 3CCD.

All AVCCAM camcorders record to Secure Digital memory cards. Newer members of AVCCAM lineup like the AG-HMC150 and the AG-HMC40 have recording bitrate to 24 Mbit/s, while consumer Panasonic models are limited to 17 Mbit/s. Other vendors such as Canon, JVC and Sony offer 24 Mbit/s in their consumer camcorders.

NXCAM

NXCAM is the name of Sony's professional video lineup employing the AVCHD format. NXCAM offers 1080i, 1080p and 720p recording modes with data rate up to 24 Mbit/s. Unlike other variants of AVCHD, NXCAM offers uncompressed PCM audio recording. Unlike AVCCAM, NXCAM does not support film-like frame rates for 720p mode.

NXCAM camcorders, as well as consumer Sony AVCHD camcorders unveiled in 2010, allow recording onto widespread SDHC cards as well as onto Memory Stick Pro Duo/Pro HG Duo cards.

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 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) will not play AVCHD natively, additional (free) software is required. Windows 7 is able to import and play AVCHD video natively, having files with extensions M2TS, MTS and M2T pre-registered in the system. 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.

Compatibility within brands

There is incompatibility within the Panasonic brand. Panasonic's latest version of the HDwriter (HD Writer AE) will not recognise AVCHD video from camcorders released before 2009 (such as the HDC-SD1/5/7/9 series).

AVCHD as distribution format

AVCHD has been designed to be compatible with Blu-ray Disc format, and can be used for distribution of high definition video, albeit with reduced quality and interactivity compared to Blu-ray Disc.

Authored AVCHD discs use DVD media, simple menus, AVC encoding, and limit data rate to 18 Mbit/s. A conventional single-layer 12 cm DVD disc can store approximately half an hour of video recorded at this rate.

AVCHD content can also be mastered on SDHC cards and played by certain Panasonic and JVC television sets and Blu-ray Disc players. Data rate on memory cards is limited to 24 Mbit/s.

Blu-ray Disc media is not supported by AVCHD specification, though some software packages allow authoring AVCHD content on Blu-ray Discs. AVCHD encoding and container are compatible with Blu-ray Disc format, but naming convention is different. For better compatibility with Blu-ray Disc players, AVCHD video can be converted into Blu-ray Disc format without re-encoding audio/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:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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 3.0 can author AVCHD content on DVD discs, 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 DVD discs, BD discs.

Blu-ray Disc players with "AVCHD" logo play AVCHD discs authored either on 8 cm or 12 cm DVD discs. 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. 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. The Samsung BD-P1400 player is able to play back AVCHD content, at least as of firmware release 1.6.

Top of the line Blu-Ray players such as those made by Oppo, generally do support AVCHD playback - whether from a disc or a simple and cheap attached (say USB2) hard drive. And typical "media players" (which as of 2010 cost as little as USD$50) such as the popular Western Digital "WD TV HD Media Player" will play AVCHD directly from a hard drive, SD card or similar.

Hardware products

Canon

Canon AVCHD camcorders offer 1080-line recording at bitrates up to 24 Mbit/s in native interlaced, progressive-scan and native progressive formats depending on model.

• 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)

Hitachi

• 2008: DZ-BD10HA (Three-media recording: Blu-ray Disc, AVCHD on HDD, AVCHD on SDHC)

JVC

• June 2008: GZ-HD10 (HDD, MicroSDHC), GZ-HD30/GZ-HD40(HDD, MicroSDHC card, dual AVCHD and TOD 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-HM400
• December 2009: GZ-HD620
• March 2010: GZ-HM1

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.

In 2009 Panasonic introduced AVCHD Lite to selected members of its Lumix line of digital cameras.

• 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).
• April 2009: DMC-TZ7(European version, limited to 30 minutes recording due to European specific taxes)/ZS3(Rest of the world) (AVCHD Lite), DMC-TS1/DMC-FT1 (AVCHD Lite)
• June 2009: DMC-GH1 (SDHC; AVCHD for 1080p24, 720p60, MJPEG for 720p30)
• 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)
• January 2010: Lumix DMC-ZS7 (DMC-TZ10 outside US)
• 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 (announced): AG-AF100/AG-AF101/AG-AF102 (4/3" large sensor camera)

Sony

Currently, all consumer Sony AVCHD camcorders record 1080-line interlaced video only. The prosumer HDR-AX2000 and professional HXR-NX5 cameras are capable of recording in interlaced and progressive formats.

Presently Sony is the only manufacturer that offers PCM audio recording.

In 2010 Sony introduced AVCHD to selected members of its Cybershot line of digital cameras.

• 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 + GPS)
• 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.
• January 2010: Sony DSC-HX5V (GPS+COMPASS) , HX5V-E (European version, limited to 30 minutes recording due to European specific taxes)
• June 2010: Sony NEX-5, 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.

Software

Codecs

• ffdshow is a free, Open Source collection of codecs, including an AVCHD decoder.
• CoreAVC is an H.264 decoder for Windows, which can decode AVCHD as well as a variety of other H.264 formats.

Converters

• Avidemux is a free open-source program that can be used to edit or convert AVCHD and AVCHD Lite files. It is also capable of demuxing and remuxing the audio and video streams into several different container formats including AVI, MP4, and MKV. (When converting AVCHD Lite .mts files from the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3, the framerate must be manually set to 29.97.)
• Badaboom is a media converter that uses NVIDIA GPUs to accelerate conversion of AVCHD to mobile devices.
• HandBrake 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 converter 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:

• Avid Media Composer (from version 5.0)supports AVCHD through as a transcoded to import. AMA linking is not currently supported.
• Adobe Premiere Pro (from version CS4 onwards; support not included in the trial version - activation must occur to gain AVCHD support).

• 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 Elements (from version 7 onwards)
• Apple's Final Cut Express 4, Final Cut Pro 6.0.1, and iMovie '08-'09 (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 Codec. 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.
• AVS Video Editor 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 FFmpeg 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.
• Corel VideoStudio supports importing, rendering and burning of AVCHD format in Windows system.
• Cyberlink PowerDirector 7 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 Edius 5.5 and Edius Neo 2
• Microsoft's Windows Live Movie Maker
• Dayang's Montage Extreme [ME] 1.2
• Nero Ultra Edition Enhanced (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 Plus (from version 11 onwards)
• Sony Vegas 7.0e
• Vegas Pro (from version 8 onwards)
• Vegas Movie Studio Platinum (from version 8 onwards)
• Kdenlive for Linux and BSD platforms
• Openshot Video editor for Linux
• Final Cut Pro 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.

• 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.
• libavcodec (part of FFmpeg project) is a codec library that supports AVCHD. It is used in Jahshaka and Blender, notably.

Specifications

Video
Video signal	1080/60i 1080/50i 1080/24p	720/60p 720/50p 720/24p	480/60i	576/50i
Frame size in pixels	1920×1080 1440×1080	1280 x 720	720×480	720×576
Frame aspect ratio	16:9		4:3, 16:9
Video Compression	MPEG-4 AVC/H.264
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)
Audio
Compression	Dolby Digital (AC-3)		Linear PCM
Compressed audio bitstream rate	64 to 640 kbit/s		1.5 Mbit/s (2 channels)
Audio mode	1-5.1 channels		1-7.1 channels
System
Stream type	MPEG transport stream
System data rate	up to 24 Mbit/s (flash and HDD media); up to 18 Mbit/s (DVD media)
File extension (generally)	mts (on camcorder), m2ts (after import to computer)
Media	8 cm optical media (DVD) SD/SDHC Memory Card "Memory Stick" Built-in hard-disk or flash Media

See also

• AVCREC: a standard to allow recording AVC encoded, Blu-ray Disc compatible HD content on ordinary DVD discs.
• Comparison of video editing software

External links

• AVCHD Official Consortium Web site