M2TS vs MTS vs MP4: Camcorder Video Formats Explained
Open the memory card from an HD camcorder and you'll find a maze of folders and files with extensions like .MTS and .M2TS, all under something called AVCHD. Meanwhile the rest of the world uses .MP4. What's the difference, and which do you actually want? Here's the plain-English version.
AVCHD, MTS, and M2TS — the same family
AVCHD is the recording standard most HD camcorders use. Within it, the video clips are stored as transport streams. On the camera's memory card the files usually end in .MTS; when you copy them to a computer they often appear as .M2TS. They're essentially the same thing — high-definition H.264 video wrapped in a transport-stream container built for camcorders and Blu-ray.
The three formats
MTS
The extension AVCHD camcorders use on the memory card itself.
M2TS
The same transport-stream file, often seen once copied to a computer or on Blu-ray.
MP4
The universal delivery format. Same H.264 video, but plays and edits everywhere.
Why MP4 is the one you want
MTS and M2TS are recording formats — great for the camcorder, awkward for everything else. They stumble on phones, browsers, and editing timelines. MP4 uses the same underlying H.264 video but in a container the whole world supports, so converting keeps your quality while making the footage play on any device and import cleanly into any editor.
Good news: converting is fast and lossless-ish
Because MTS/M2TS and MP4 often share the same H.264 video, converting is quick and preserves quality — you're mostly re-wrapping the video into a friendlier container rather than heavily re-encoding it.
The bottom line
MTS and M2TS are two faces of the same AVCHD camcorder format — high-def video built for recording, not sharing. MP4 is the universal format you want for playback and editing. Convert your camcorder footage to MP4 and it'll work everywhere, without losing the quality your camcorder captured.
Convert your camcorder footage
Convert M2TS and MTS camcorder video to MP4 free — ready to play, share, and edit anywhere.