Analysis on HD Camcorder Supported Video Formats AVCHD DV MPEG2

HD digital camcorders, such as the famous Panasonic, Sony, Canon and JVC, record video in a number of different file formats like DV, AVCHD, H.264, etc. After figuring out the specific features and usages of each HD camcorder video format, we may take advantages of the files such as editing and playback.

BTW, the camcorder file formats may not be supported by your PC, Mac or other devices, you need a camcorder video converter to convert DV, HDV, MPEG-2, AVCHD, H.264, MPEG4, etc. videos to more popular formats like MP4.

Best HD Camcorder Video Converter to Convert DV, MPEG-2, AVCHD, H.264, etc.

Winxvideo AI is the best HD camcorder video converter to convert videos from Sony, Canon, JVC or Panasonic to MP4 AVI for PC, Mac, and mobile. It supports converting any camcorder recording formats, including DV, HDV, MPEG-2, AVCHD, H.264, and MPEG4.

Part 1. Popular Camcorder File Formats

Basically, the family-use digital camcorders nowadays often apply MiniDV format, whose horizontal resolution reaches as high as 500 above. The standard recording time of a MiniDV tape is 60min, while it can be prolonged to 90min if choosing LP mode. With the arrival of digital HD television age, the digital companies Sony, Canon, Sharp and JVC have created HDV, a new high resolution video format compressed in MPEG-2. And some authorized digital cameras and camcorders shoot videos in MOV format. In addition to that, there are some other camcorder supported formats.

HD camcorder video formats:

• DV
• HDV
• MPEG-2
• MPEG-4/H.264
• AVCHD
• MVC

1. DV (1995): The DV format was initially developed by Sony and designed to store digital video onto magnetic tape. The DV standard turned into the most universal standard-definition digital camcorder technology for the next decade. It was the first to realize capturing footage for video editing without special hardware, using the 4-pin or 6-pin Firewire sockets common on computers at the time.

File extensions: AVI, QT, MXF, MOV.

2. HDV (2004): Similar to DV format, it is very memory-intensive but produces quality video. It records up to an hour of HDTV MPEG-2 signal on a MiniDV cassette. At an aspect ratio of 16:9, 1080i/720p, it is compatible with the current HDTV. For example HDR-FX1 produced by Sony is the pioneer using HDV format.

File extensions: AVI, QT, MXF, MOV.

3. MPEG-2: As a codec-based format, MPEG2 records MPEG-2 program stream or MPEG-2 transport stream to various kinds of tapeless standard and HD media (hard disks, solid-state memory, etc.). MPEG-2 is more commonly found in traditional expensive camcorders. The quality is higher than that of pocket camcorder models. An MPEG-2-based model is a fine choice if you're more interested in viewing high quality, standard definition camcorder footage on a TV. However, MPEG2 format is comparatively backwards with small compression rate and large file size, which makes it not easy to upload to the Web or send in an email. So you'd better find a video size compression solution.

File extensions: EVO, MP4, MPEG, QT, MOV, VOB, IFO.

4. H.264/MPEG4: H.264 is a new video codec standard which can achieve high quality video in relatively low bitrates, and is usually stored in tapeless media. It refers to the compressed video using the H.264 codec in an MPEG-4 file. H.264 or MPEG4 has a good balance between video quality and memory consuming, and they are very web-friendly.

File extensions: MP4, M4P, M4B, M4R, M4V, M4A, DIVX, EVO, F4V, FLV.

5. AVCHD: This is an advanced format with great compression (compressed in H.264 format, not MPEG-4) and high efficiency. It puts H.264 video into a transport-stream file format. An AVCHD camcorder is able to capture very high quality video and burn an HD video to a standard DVD disc, which can be played back on a Blu-ray player. AVCHD format can be found on most Canon, Sony, and Panasonic HD camcorders. However, this format has high requirement on the hardware for post processing. At present, high-end PC can edit AVCHD video normally.

File extensions: MTS, M2TS.

6. Multiview Video Coding (MVC): As the 3D Blu-ray technology, it is amendment to H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video compression for sequences captured from multiple cameras using a single video stream; backwards-compatible with H.264.

It all boils down to one simple fact that the formats of each camcorder are preset by the system and cannot be changed by ourselves. If you need high image quality, just set it to "HQ". The video formats output by HD-camcorders will be very sharp on HDTVs (4K Ultra HD included), but are not optimized for LCD TVs. If you need to edit or post-process the camcorder videos, or play them on different devices and players, please read the following tutorial.

Part 2. How to Convert Camcorder Video Formats?

The above words have told the common camcorder file formats we see in daily life, but you may have problem playing, editing or uploading these format videos. So, to make things easier, you can convert any camcorder video formats with Winxvideo AI.

Apart from JVC, majority of consumer camcorders in current market use AVCHD format, and the file extension of AVCHD format is .m2ts / .mts. So, we will take AVCHD to MP4 conversion as an example to show you how to make your HD video camera file formats more compatible.

Step 1. Free download Winxvideo AI, install and launch it on your computer.

Step 2. Click the + Video button to import an AVCHD camcorder video.

Step 3. When the Output Profile window pops up, navigate to General Profile and choose MP4 as the best output format.

Step 4. Choose a destination folder by clicking Browse button to save the converted file.

Step 5. Now, hit RUN button to start converting camcorder video to a popular format.

Winxvideo AI is born to be a 4K video converter that can convert between any formats to any device.

• Supported Input Formats: mts, m2ts, mpeg4, h.264, avc, mpg, mpeg, mpe, ts, mov, mkv, mod, tod, avi, wmv, wmp, ram, ra, rpm, rt, dv, m1v, m2v, m4v, flv, vob, divx, xvid, rmvb, rm, asf, 3gp, 3gpp, 3g2, 3gp2, qt, dat, webm, vpx, vp8, wtv, vp6, m4k, tp, tpr, pss, pva, jpg, png, bmp
• Supported Output Video Formats Chromecast, MP4, AVC, AVI, WMV, MKV, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, RM, 3G2, 3GP, ASF, WEBM (VP8), FLV, F4V, SWF, DV, MOV, FLV, VOB, MTS, AVC HD, MKV HD, MPEG HD, AVI HD, WMV HD
• Supported Output Device Formats: iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, iTunes, iDVD, iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Air Playit, HTC, Samsung, Galaxy Tab, Kindle Fire, Google Nexus 7, New Nexus 7, Huawei, Lenovo, Acer, Asus and general pads and mobiles, WP8, Surface tablet, Xbox, Zune, PSP, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Xperia, Nokia, Blackberry, PDA, Zen