The way to convert MTS for Windows Media Player or Movie Maker

"I got some .mts/m2ts files shot by my Panasonic HDC-TM80. I had done the conversion from MTS to MPEG-2. However, the output files is low in video quality? Is there any alternative to HD Writer AE3.0? So I can better deal with the MTS files on my PC without quality loss?"-from Yahoo Answers

Do you also have such hassles, when playback or editing the MTS files? If yes, hope the below instruction can help you out of troubles.

Now, let’s go to better know the MTS file format:

High-definition MPEG Transport Stream video format, commonly called "AVCHD;" used by Sony, Panasonic, and other HD camcorders; based on the MPEG-2 transport stream and supports 720p and 1080i HD video formats.

Supposed you are running on Windows 7, I would like to say "you are a lucky guy." For the AVCHD/MTS/MTS files can be natively supported by Windows 7. However, if your Windows OS is XP or Vista OS, you may suffer from some painful experience: the pop-up windows may hint you about not finding codec. In the sense, you still have an alternative, the freeware- VLC media Player. Try the freeware to confirm whether it can meet your demand. If you aren’t satisfied at the video quality, you may have to convert MTS files. WMV can be your ideal choice, for it is highly compatible with Windows programs like Windows Media Player or Movie Maker.

The following tutorials guides you how to convert mts to wmv on Windows 7:

Step 1: Free download windows movie maker converter, install and launch it.

The MTS to WMV Converter can easily transcode or encode dozens of video or audio codecs, so you can better enjoyment the recorded .mts files. For example: convert MTS to WMV for Windows Media Player or convert video to windows movie maker, MTS to MOV for QuickTime and more.

Step 2: Press "Add File" to load MTS file to the software.

Step 3: Choose "HD Video"-> "HD WMV Video" as output format. You can also specify the folder to store the .wmv video.

Step 4: Customize MTS video under the options of "Clip" or "Edit".

Step 5: Click "start" to begin converting.

Note: When the conversion is done, load .wmv files to your target player or other place.

Addition:

Codec for AVCHD:

ffdshow is a free, Open Source collection of codecs, including an AVCHD decoder.

CoreAVC is an H.264 decoder for Windows, which can decode AVCHD as well as a variety of other H.264 formats.

Converters:

Badaboom is a media converter that uses NVIDIA GPUs to accelerate conversion of AVCHD to mobile devices.

HandBrake will convert AVCHD Lite format to MP4 and MKV (tested on OSX; other versions available), AVI and OGM are supported in versions before 0.9.4.

Knowledge from AVCHD file format at Wikipedia.

About MTS files editing on Mac:

Apple's Final Cut Pro X natively supports AVCHD through Import From Camera.

Apple's Final Cut Pro for Mac OS X. The latest version of Final Cut Pro 7 claims better integration with Apple's other professional applications and improved codec support for editing HD, DV and SD video formats, including encoding presets for devices such as iPod, Apple TV, and Blu-ray Discs.