AVCHD and H.264 at DVinfo.net

Peter Solmssen · December 17th, 2006, 08:49 PM

Here and elsewhere I read about how much computer horsepower is required to play (never mind edit) the AVCHD version of H.264. That is certainly true, but there seems to be a tendency to think that it is true of H.264 generally. That has not been my experience.

I do have trouble playing AVCHD on my dual core Mac Mini, and on my insufficiently powered PCs. On the other hand, when I convert MP4 from the Sanyo HD1 to Apple Intermediate Codec for editing in iMovie (which works very well), I then render in Quicktime H.264 for a file that is about 10% of the size, and which looks great and plays easily.

Luca de Sensi · December 20th, 2006, 04:54 PM

Hi Peter,
could You please explain how You managed to play some AVCHD video on your Mac. So far my experience has been a total 0 (the .m2t would not play with VLC or open with MPEG Streamclip)... what am I missing???
Thanks,
Luca

Peter Solmssen · December 20th, 2006, 06:19 PM

There really is no satisfactory way that I have found worthwhile. I have played some of the sample clips on a PC using Elecard. Some of the Japanese clips have a .wmv version that can be played (badly) with flip4mac or windows media player for the Mac.

None of this is worth the trouble, in my opinion. My point in this posting was simply that the problem is with AVCHD, not H.264 per se. There are other versions of H.264 that play very well in Quicktime.

Maybe some improvements will be shown at CES in a few days.

December 17th, 2006, 08:49 PM	#1
Peter Solmssen Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Palo Alto, CA Posts: 133	AVCHD and H.264 Here and elsewhere I read about how much computer horsepower is required to play (never mind edit) the AVCHD version of H.264. That is certainly true, but there seems to be a tendency to think that it is true of H.264 generally. That has not been my experience. I do have trouble playing AVCHD on my dual core Mac Mini, and on my insufficiently powered PCs. On the other hand, when I convert MP4 from the Sanyo HD1 to Apple Intermediate Codec for editing in iMovie (which works very well), I then render in Quicktime H.264 for a file that is about 10% of the size, and which looks great and plays easily.

December 20th, 2006, 04:54 PM	#2
Luca de Sensi Tourist Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 4	Hi Peter, could You please explain how You managed to play some AVCHD video on your Mac. So far my experience has been a total 0 (the .m2t would not play with VLC or open with MPEG Streamclip)... what am I missing??? Thanks, Luca

December 20th, 2006, 06:19 PM	#3
Peter Solmssen Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Palo Alto, CA Posts: 133	There really is no satisfactory way that I have found worthwhile. I have played some of the sample clips on a PC using Elecard. Some of the Japanese clips have a .wmv version that can be played (badly) with flip4mac or windows media player for the Mac. None of this is worth the trouble, in my opinion. My point in this posting was simply that the problem is with AVCHD, not H.264 per se. There are other versions of H.264 that play very well in Quicktime. Maybe some improvements will be shown at CES in a few days.