I'd like to toss in a few words about x264. Simply put, it's by far the best H.264 codec out there, and it's free!

Wrapped in a nice GUI like MeGUI or RipBot264, it can create very nice looking AVCHD streams from any source, be it HDV, AVCHD, BluRay, or whatever you have.

Of course, passing through untouched video to the AVCHD disc is always preferable, but if you must re-encode, use the best possible codec! That, folks, is x264!

-Derek

Derek,
Why is x264 the best in your opinion? You've used the others?

Bringing This Back Up
 

I've followed most of the earlier discussion, which informed me and also dampened my expectations for using AVCHD as a low-cost way of putting my HDV onto disks as HD.
However, the mention of using m2t as an AVCHD-DVD source interests me. There's a new Nero 9 program out now that is promoted as having expanded AVCHD capabilities. If I capture my HDV with the Sony PMB program as m2t files, would Nero 9 accept them and pass them through onto an AVCHD-DVD?

I have been able to effectively use the PMB file-clipping feature as a means to do simple editing and then stack up and splice together the separate m2t clips onto a standard-definition DVD using Windows DVD Maker. The video comes out in a 16:9 aspect and looks very good from the DVDs. It's much better than when using other sources for an SD-DVD. However, when I edit the m2t files on Windows Movie Maker and publish them as wmv-HD, even when using custom settings with as high as 12 Mbps, the resulting SD-DVDs, when using that as a source, have lesser picture quality. Possibly, if I used the top level of 20 Mbps for wmv-HD, it might improve. I was able to determine the bit-rate for these DVDs at almost 11 Mbps. I had thought that 9.2 Mbps was the top rate for an SD-DVD, but a disk had 254 seconds of video and used 342 MB, which figures out to about 10.85 Mbps. These DVDs will play on a standard player to a TV.

So, I'm wondering if Nero 9 would put together these same m2t clips from PMB and write them onto a DVD as AVCHD? Unfortunately, the trial version of Nero 9 leaves out the AVCHD capabilities, so I can't test this before buying. Of course, the viewers of these disks would be limited to those with BD players and PS3 (maybe) and also those with similar DVD software programs like Nero 9 and Cyberlink's new #7 version. I personally know four people who are equipped like this, but I'd still like to do it, as it's painful to see the way Vimeo and Exposure Room abuse my HD with their brutal compression. Thanks for any comments or suggestions. I'd appreciate just being told that this isn't possible, if that's the case.

Since HDV is MPEG-2 and AVCHD is MPEG-4, doing this will involve a conversion that takes time and might cause a quality loss. Only you can decide if the time and quality are acceptable. For me they are, but I use Sony's AVCHD encoder that offers very good quality.

Thankfully, both HDV and AVCHD are 1440x1080 formats so they match.

Remember, AVCHD discs can only be played on BD players.

I've used Mainconcept Reference and Quicktime, and yes, x264 is measurably superior.

Has anyone had any luck with this in this last 7 months? Maybe something with the new Vegas 9, or any change in the way PS3 handles the disks with new system updates.