Last updated on 2013-07-25, by David Brooks

What is M2TS

About MTS / M2TS Format

MTS is a high definition video file format. It’s commonly used for high definition video on Blu-ray disc, AVCHD and HD camcorder. MTS file is a container file format and uses the .mts as file extension. It’s based on the MPEG-2 transport stream container and is also known as BDAV MPEG-2 transport stream. MTS file usually takes AVC or H.264 or MPEG2 as its video encoding algorithm and AC-3 as its audio encoding algorithm.

M2TS is a filename extension used for the Blu-ray Disc Audio-Video (BDAV) MPEG-2 Transport Stream (M2TS) container file format. M2TS files are raw AVCHD videos recorded using Sony’s camcorders, such as the HDR-SR series models. Panasonic, Canon and other brands of AVCHD camcorders also record in M2TS format. It is used for multiplexing audio, video and other streams. It is based on the MPEG-2 transport stream container. This container format is commonly used for high definition video on Blu-ray Disc and AVCHD

Difference between MTS and M2TS
Video file recorded in the AVCHD folder in DV hard drive is MTS file, which turns to a M2TS file after transferred to computer hard drive via PMB.

The AVCHD format records video using the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video codec, and audio in Dolby AC-3. Other than the video and audio codecs, AVCHD also contains menu navigation, slide shows and subtitles. The menu navigation allows access to individual videos from a common intro screen, the slide shows consists of a sequence of AVC still frames accompanied by background audio track, and the subtitles are used to timestamp recordings.

Though both MTS and M2TS are file extensions for the same AVCHD and both support 720p and 1080i HD video formats, there is a slight difference between the two. In the M2TS file, the video file is saved in the high definition Blu-ray BDAV format. Video data on the Blue-ray discs can be saved in one of the three video codecs – MPEG2 Part 2, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, or SMPTE VC-1; and the audio data in Dolby digital, DTS, or the uncompressed Linear PCM. The M2TS file extension is written as “xxxxx.m2ts” where the “xxxxx” are a five digit number corresponding to the audio-visual clip.

Related Software

Leawo Video Converter (MTS / M2TS Converter): an easy video and audio solution for any format conversions, with fast speed and excellent output guaranteed. Equipped with 3D conversion function, you can get 3D MTS/M2TS video as output. This MTS/M2TS Converter not only converts common videos to MTS/M2TS video, but also converts MTS/M2TS video to other video formats.

Leawo DVD Ripper (DVD to MTS/M2TS Ripper): a useful DVD ripping program for users to rip DVD to video in various formats. So with it you can enjoy great convenience to convert DVD to MTS/M2TS for appreciation. This DVD to MTS/M2TS Ripper enables you to convert DVD to MTS/M2TS with fast speed and excellent video quality. 3D MTS/M2TS video as output is also supportable.

Related Source
AVCHD, Blu-ray, DVD, MKV, MOD, iMovie, Sony Vegas, Adobe Premiere

References
How to Convert 2D Video to 3D M2TS Video?
How to convert MTS/M2TS videos to AVI?

External Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M2ts