AVCHD H.264 vs "normal" H.264
 

Please forgive this newbie question, but I haven't been able to find a clear answer anywhere. I keep reading that AVCHD is based on H.264, but the MTS (AVCHD) files from my Sony HDR-SR11 are not playable by any H.264-capable software I use (e.g., QuickTime Pro, VLC Player, etc.).

Of course I can convert my Sony MTS files to normal H.264 MP4 videos using Toast, Handbrake, FCE, VoltaicHD, or any number of other tools, but I don't really understand why I have to if AVCHD is a form of H.264.

Can anyone explain in plain English how AVCHD can supposedly be based on H.264 while being incompatible with most software that plays H.264, like QuickTime and VLC? I assume it's not just AVCHD container formats that confuse "normal" H.264 players, but a more fundamental incompatibility, right?

That clarifies why Sony's M2TS is not the same as Panasonic M2TS or Canon M2TS. However, it doesn't quite explain why tools like QuickTime Player can't handle any of these H.264-based formats despite claiming to support H.264. Did Apple also screw up by supporting only its preferred flavor of H.264?

In other words, if there was a player that conformed 100% to the H.264 specification, would it be able to play Sony M2TS, Panasonic M2TS, and Canon M2TS, or would there still be incompatibilities? Have the vendors deviated from the H.264 standard, or simply implemented non-overlapping subsets of it?

Magic word, Apple. Ask yourself this... Why does Apple still use an editing codec specific to ONLY it's platform? Actually two... AIC and ProRes. And until a few months ago not even THEIR OWN PLAYER would decode Pro-res, and it still wont decode AIC.

This is the same thing we saw with HDV being based on Mpeg2. Each company made sure you couldn't share tapes across manufacturers even though it was all HDV and all based on legal mpeg2. AVCHD will get there, hopefully. I still can't open Panasonic HD files in Sony Vegas (without a 3rd party tool). And Panasonic doesn't even have a competing product. It's been what, 4 years now?

Sorry, it's just crap.

Depressing, but it makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.

You mean their Windows QT player.

And, Avid uses its own codec as does EDIUS. It's not only Apple.

The Casio EX-F1 uses ordinary H.264. Plays fine BUT not FullHD only 720p under OS X 10.4.11. The free H.264 codec -- now discontinued -- that does FullHD doesn't do interlace correctly. And, every Apple app will play the audio from the Casio -- except imovie 08.

The HDV FIREWIRE world was far simpler, yet not perfect as you say.

I think sometimes we get confused by the compression codec used, and the container.
From what I've read, there is no "real" difference between AVC and H.264.
see:H.264/MPEG-4 AVC - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you look at the history of BluRay, it started out with only supported MPEG-2 compression, but then they added AVC and VC-1. VC-1 is another name for Windows Media 9, and AVC is is equivalent to h.264

Now it seems crazy to me that simply changing the file name from mts to m2ts makes Windows Movie Maker in Vista, capable of reading in the file and editing it. I'm able to then export this edited video to Windows Media 9 (vc-1)