Panasonic, Sony develop AVCHD - new HD digital video camera format

Panasonic, the brand name for which Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is known and Sony Corporation today announced specifications for "AVCHD", a brand new high definition (HD) digital video camera recorder format the two companies jointly established.

The AVCHD format allows for recording and playback high-resolution, digital HD images using 8cm DVD media. The two companies have started preparations for licensing to extensively promote the format throughout the industry.

In Japan, BS digital HD broadcasting and digital terrestrial broadcasting are expanding widely. Coupled with the emerging growth of HD broadcasting across the world, penetration of HD-capable TV sets is gaining unprecedented momentum. This sets the stage for enjoying HD images more easily at home. Panasonic and Sony will extensively promote this format throughout the industry as the new HD digital video camera recorder format best suited for the HD era.

The "AVCHD" is an HD digital video camera format for recording 1080i and 720p signals onto 8cm DVD media by using highly efficient codec technologies. The format employs MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 codec for video compression, and Dolby Digital (AC-3) or Linear PCM for audio codec. This makes it possible to develop HD video camera recorders which achieve compact size as well as high-quality video and audio.

The MPEG-4/H.264 codec is a promising technology which is over two times more efficient than MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 codec technologies. By adopting this technology, an "AVCHD" video camera recorder can record high quality HD video images onto 8cm DVD media.