AVCHD is a video codec designed for recording high definition videos in 720p, 1080i and 1080p modes on such rewritable discs as Blu-Ray and AVCHD, hard disks and memory cards. The AVCHD standard implies using of AVC video compression format, AC3 audio codec and MTS or M2TS file extension. The main feature of the codec is high compression efficiency together with high image quality. But here comes the main flaw – the codec is really heavy for playback.

This format was originally created as an alternative to mp3. The idea was to achieve a small file size with better sound quality. The first versions weren’t quite successful, but with the development of AAC, it became possible to store sound with less loss of quality, and with the same file sizes as that of mp3.