AVCHD - what is this format? Advanced Video Codec High Definition - Enhanced High Definition Video Codec

Many fans watching high-quality video and resolution often encounter the format of AVCHD. What kind of format is it and how does it differ from everything that was created before, now it will be considered. In addition, special attention will be paid to the technology itself and programs that allow working with the new AVCHD standard.

AVCHD: what is this format?

Although at the moment we are talking about video, the sound here plays an important role. The very same decoding of this reduction refers specifically to the advanced video codec of high resolution (Advanced Video Codec High Definition).

This standard is relatively new and uses video compression technology based on MPEG4 AVC / H.264 compression.

Other formats of video recording, for example, MPEG2 to the new standard clearly lose, because AVCHD provides the best quality at 720p, 1080p and 1080p, and also has reduced requirements for data storage.

History of occurrence and variety

If you look at the development history, the AVCHD recording format was originally created as an alternative to the HDV and DV standards, which until recently prevailed in home and professional video cameras.

The new standard was first developed in 2006 by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Ltd., which at that time actively cooperated with one of the leaders in the field of photo, video and audio - the world famous company Panasonic. Then the application of the new format was limited exclusively to video cameras.

And only in 2008 together with the corporation Sony was announced the technology of solid-state recording, which led to the emergence of the first professional camcorders.

The very same initial format has undergone some changes over time (several versions of it appeared with different parameters and settings). To date, the following are distinguished:

• AVCHD Lite - lightweight format with a resolution of only 720 lines and a frame rate of 24, 50 or 60 fps;
• AVCCAM - the format of professional video cameras based on a 3-matrix CCD sensor, allowing recording with a bitrate of 24 Mbit / s, connecting a microphone through the XLR input and storing footage on solid-state drives;
• NXCAM is a "pure" format from Sony, which allows you to record video quality 720p, 1080p and 1080i, but not working with a frame rate of 24, 25 and 30 fps;
• AVCHD 3D / Progressive - update the format of 2011 to version 2.0, supporting the shooting of stereoscopic video with the parameters 1080p / 50-60fps).

Applicable video codecs

As for the video, the codecs and decoders used are mostly based on MPEG-4 compression technologies, but they have a few other parameters.

Install the same video codec for XP labor is not. To do this, you just need to find the latest version of the popular K-Lite package. But in the process of installation, instead of the standard set offered by the "Setup Wizard", you need to select the advanced one and tick all the items in the list.

In addition, the installed video codecs for XP or systems of higher rank can be divided into two categories - AVCHD-SD (standard resolution) and AVCHD-HD (high resolution). Proceeding from this, it is possible to give the comparative characteristics of both standards.

Audio decoders

With audio, the situation is not so simple. The basis of the signal transformation is based on two main technologies - Linear PCM and Dolby Digital. However, with regard to sound, many users clearly do not understand the difference between audio quality and distribution.

So, for some reason some users call the quality of the sound recording format 5.1, 7.1 or even 8.1. Remember: this is not quality, but only the ability to distribute the signal in a panoramic way.

You can give an analogy to devices called crossovers. They can separate the frequencies and direct them to the appropriate dynamics. If anyone remembers, during the Soviet times Radiotehnika series S series were produced with an open external panel, on which a low-frequency diffuser was present, a mid-frequency diffuser was in the middle, and a tweeter was on top.

The crossover connected to the amplifier can redirect a certain frequency range to the corresponding speaker characteristics.

But in terms of distribution of surround sound is used is a panoramic characteristic. And the quality of audio is determined by the bit rate and sampling rate. In our case, audio can be reproduced with characteristics at 320 Kbps and 96 kHz (professional sound, similar to lossless format).

Application area

Now one more aspect, concerning the standard AVCHD. What kind of format is already a little clear. Let's look at the most popular areas of its application.

Not to mention the possibility of using this standard for video or in terms of video or audio signal processing, it can be noted that the main direction in its development, modification and use has become digital television, in particular, HDTV-receivers of paid digital channels.

By the way, in the same Brazil this standard is used absolutely for all digital TV services. In South Korea, it is embedded in the system of Digital Multimedia Broadcast, and the Japanese service of Fuji Television and NHK this standard is associated with the mobile segment of the market.

Media

Usually, to save information with this method of video compression and audio encoding, solid state drives are used. If at the beginning of the development of this standard only Blu-ray discs or special AVCHD media (8 cm) were used, today such files can easily be saved to a hard drive or removable Memory Stick Pro or SD memory cards.

The question is: how to reproduce or edit such material? There are several means for this.

AVCHD: what to open?

If we are talking about the software in terms of playback, provided there are codecs and decoders installed, any application in the form of a player or a program for video will recognize the format without difficulty.

In the most primitive version, you can use the same Windows Media Player or an equally interesting product called VLC Media Player. Such a common program for video, by the way, has much greater capabilities compared to the standard Windows tool.

As for processing, there are some difficulties. First, the main problem is to copy the material from the same camera or the AVCHD disc. The file system of UDF 2.5 media is not supported by the "expiry". The simplest solution to fix the problem will be the installation of an additional software package Nero InCD.

In addition, the captured files on the camera can be located in the STREAM directory, which is hidden in the root directory of the device or subfolders.

And opening with the help of professional utilities like Sony Vegas Pro or something else is not discussed at all.

Import a video of this format can even a program like applications for audio processing such as Sony Sound Forge or Adobe Audition CS.

Convert AVCHD to another format

To translate AVCHD to other readable formats, as a rule, special converter programs are used, which you can find today, as many as you like.

The general principle is only to select the objects to be converted and specify the final data type. In the settings, you can also select the appropriate video and audio processing tool.

Instead of the total

Here, in fact, and everything that concerns the standard video AVCHD. What kind of format and what is its quality, it is better to evaluate directly when viewing the material on the same TV-panel. Compared with other existing formats, this is the most qualitative, in addition, it is not so demanding on the resources of cameras, TVs, computers or even mobile devices. By the way, the video compression technique packs the material so that it is too much space on any storage medium , as it should have been, does not occupy. In general, there are some advantages.