HDTV FAQ: What is AVCHD?
If you are out this holiday season looking for a camcorder, then you are going to come across the term AVCHD.
In this Digital Home HDTV FAQ article we answer the question – What is AVCHD?
AVCHD, which stands for Advanced Video Codec High Definition, is a high-definition (HD) digital video camera recorder format, created by Sony and Panasonic in May 2006.
The format employs MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) codec for video compression, and Dolby Digital (AC-3) or Linear PCM for the audio codec. Using an AVCHD camcorder, videographers are able to record about one hour of high definition recording on a 4GB SDHC flash memory Card.
AVCHD recordings can be transferred to a computer by connecting the camcorder via the USB connection. Many camcorders can record to removable media like SDHC and Memory Stick cards or DVD discs, which can be directly read on a computer. The good news for hdtv owners is that thanks to an increasing acceptance of the format by the consumer electronics industry, many new HDTV’s now have microSD slots which will accept and playback memory cards with AVCHD recordings on them.
The result is that HDTV owners can now record home movies in high definition and play them back in high definition without going near a computer or even having to hook their camcorder up to their television.
In addition to employing advanced audio and video compression techniques, AVCHD includes features which improve media presentation include 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.
AVCHD was originally conceived by Sony as a codec for use on 3.2-inch (80mm) optical discs similar to Mini CD and MiniDVD which would compete with handheld video camera recording formats like MiniDV.
After consultation with other member of the consumer electronics industry, Panasonic and Sony made a smart decision by including memory cards (SD and Memory Stick) and hard disk drives as applicable recording media of the format.
Currently the format is now used in high definition camcorders from Canon, JVC, Panasonic and Sony. In addition, Sony and Panasonic have been keen to support AVCHD discs in their Blu-ray players therefore new Sony and Panasonic Blu-ray players feature the ability to play AVCHD discs.
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