AVCHD or MP4? Which One Is the Better to Output Camcorder Recording?

AVCHD or MP4? This is the difficult choice for many of you to make, when you select the recording output in a camcorder from Canon, Panasonic, Sont, Hitachi, JVC, or Leica Camera.

What is the difference between MP4 and AVCHD? Which one is better video recording or playback? The following words will discuss AVCHD VS MP4 in details.

Part 1. Definition of AVCHD and MP4
Part 2. AVCHD VS MP4
Part 3. Universal AVCHD Converter

Part 1. Definition of AVCHD and MP4

What is AVCHD format?

AVCHD, (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) developed by Sony and Panasonic in 2006, is the file format for digital recording and playback of high definition video. Not only recorded by camcorder, but this file format can also be burned into DVD disc and played back in most Blu-ray disc players, though DVD-based AVCHD camcorders have been stopped producing since 2008.

What is MP4 format?

MPEG-4 Part 14, also named as MP4, is the digital multimedia container formats to store video, audio, subtitles and images commonly, and stream over Internet widely. MP4 is identical to the QuickTime file format, but slight differently to support Initial Object Descriptors (IOD) and other MPEG features, which is compatible with almost all types of players and devices.

Part 2. AVCHD VS MP4

Both AVCHD and MP4 are popular video formats in video recording and playback, which is better? To make this answer clear, below descriptions will help you.

Firstly, let's see the basic metrics of AVCHD and MP4.

Features	AVCHD	MP4
File extension	The file extension of an AVCHD file is .m2ts (imported into the computer) or .mts (in a camcorder).	Generally speaking, MP4-formatted video uses .mp4 as the file extension anywhere and anytime.
Picture size & scan mode	1920×1080/60i, 50i (16:9) and 1440×1080/60i, 50i (16:9).	1440×1080/30p (16:9), 1280×720/30p (16:9) and 640×480/30p (4:3).
Video & audio codecs	AVCHD applies MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 as video codec and Dolby Digital AC-3 as audio codec.	MP4 uses the same MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 as video codec, but audio codec is MPEG-4 AAC LC codec.

Now, let's check together which one is better, AVCHD or MP4?

Video quality – AVCHD VS MP4

AVCHD

AVCHD is created for capturing video in 1080p 50p/60p with the maximum bitrate of 28 Mbit/s, so the video quality is amazingly great.

MP4

JVC records MP4 videos, which go up to 1080p at 60 frames per second, which is near the ACVHD format, but still falls short compared with ACVHD.

File size – AVCHD VS MP4

AVCHD

Due to the higher quality of video file, the format of AVCHD owns a larger file size than MP4. With the compression of MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, the output file size of AVCHD is 3 times as big as the MP4 file.

MP4

MP4 gets a higher compression than AVCHD, which makes MP4 file smaller than AVCHD. Generally speaking, a 30 minute video in MP4 with 1920 × 1080 resolution takes about 100MB while AVCHD about 300MB.

Compatibility – AVCHD VS MP4

AVCHD

Though used for DVD recording previously, AVCHD now is widely used to record video on hard disk drive, (non-) solid-state memory card on such camcorders as Canon, Panasonic, Sont, Hitachi, JVC, or Leica Camera.

MP4

MP4, as the universal video format, it is widely used as the media container. Moreover, it is the frequently used as the way of streaming video on the Internet. There is no doubt that this video file has a higher compatibility than AVCHD.

Popularity – AVCHD VS MP4

AVCHD

AVCHD, as the high resolution video format, it is popular among camcorder, Blu-ray disc, HDTV sets, PlayStation 3 gaming console, etc.

MP4

MP4 is popular among users who prefer to a smaller size and compatible devices like on iPad, Android phone, computer, etc.

Playback – AVCHD VS MP4

AVCHD

Due to the limited usage of AVCHD, so the supported playback devices of AVCHD are Blu-ray player, PlayStation 3 console, computer with the particular software like VLC, QuickTime (since macOS Mountain Lion), Cyberlink PowerDirector, Pinnacle Studio, Magix Movie Edit Pro 15 Plus, etc.

MP4

MP4, as the universally accepted format, you can playback the MP4 file in almost devices like Windows Media Player, QuickTime, iMovie, VLC, iPhone, Android, etc. As a result, MP4 is the winner when you are just seeking for the most popular format to playback or edit further.

Summary of AVCHD VS MP4

It is hard to say which is better, AVCHD or MP4. Only you can decide the winner according to your own needs.

Here we make the summary of these two video file formats.

AVCHD:
Record high quality video.
Audio recording quality is great with Dolby Digital AC-3 codec.
The file size is bigger than other types of video files.
It is not easy to playback or open with common devices.

MP4:
It is easily played back by many devices.
It is feasible to be copied, and shared.
The high resolution video can be only up to 1440 × 1080.
The audio codec is low in quality

Part 3. Universal AVCHD Converter

Though AVCHD brings you the super clear vision, it also makes you feel not easy to playback or edit further sometimes.

Commonly, you can use the cable to connect camcorder to computer, and use the AVCHD player to play it directly on computer.

However, if you want to playback the AVCHD recording on the devices that do not support AVCHD software player, you will find the AVCHD converter is the solution.

Aiseesoft AVCHD Video Converter is the professional AVCHD video converting software, which supports over 1000 formats. It supports high resolution video from 1080p HD video to 4K. Even AVCHD 3D video is in the list.

Convert AVCHD to MP4, MOV, MKV, WMV, AVI, 3GP, FLV, etc.
Extract AVCHD audio and save as MP3, AAC, FLAC, AIFF, ALAC, WMA, etc.
Rip AVCHD DVD to video on Windows and Mac freely.
Edit AVCHD like rotate, clip, crop, mirror, watermark, effects.
Enhance AVCHD video like reduce video shaking, remove video noise, etc.
Batch convert AVCHD file to save your time greatly.

Step 1. Add AVCHD file

Free download AVCHD Video Converter on your computer, and launch it after successful installation. Click "Add File" to import M2TS file to this software.

Step 2. Convert AVCHD file

After importing the AVCHD file, select the output by clicking the dropdown of "Profile". Then click "Convert" to start to convert AVCHD file directly.

Get to know more details about converting AVCHD to MP4 here.

Tips

1. If the AVCHD file is stored in your camcorder, just using the cable to plug it into your computer.

2. If the AVCHD files are in Blu-ray disc, just insert the Blu-ray disc into your Blu-ray drive connected to this computer.

Conclusion

This page mainly talks about the differences between AVCHD and MP4. We cannot tell directly which one is better, because the better one is better one according to your own needs. Plus, we also recommend the AVCHD video converter, which is the professional video converter to change AVCHD to other formats owing to the limited compatibility of AVCHD.

Now, it is your turn to share your experience about the two file formats, AVCHD or MP4.

What do you think of this post?

Excellent

Rating: 4.8 / 5 (based on 102 ratings)

April 11, 2019 17:19 / Updated by Jenny Ryan to Convert Video