XAVC S VS AVCHD: Pros and Cons of XAVC S over AVCHD in Different Aspects

“What is the difference between XAVC vs AVCHD? Which shooting mode should I choose when I use a Sony digital video camera? Which one is better?” This is a common confusion of Sony users. Before we make a comparison of XAVC S vs AVCHD, let's look at the definitions of the two.

XAVC S is a subset format of XAVC. It supports HD (1920x1080) and 4K (3840x2160 pixel version), known as Quad Full HD, QFHD, UltraHDTV or UHDTV. XAVC S, which is originally designed for high-definition camcorders, is used for digital recording and high-definition video playback. It uses the MP4 file wrapper for greater compatibility and suitability in consumer products and workflows.
While AVCHD is a file-based format for the digital recording and playback of high-definition video. For file compression, AVCHD uses MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video standard along with AC3 and LPCM audio, which normally uses the “MTS” wrapper.
Then, let’s see the details of XVAC S vs AVCHD for reference.

Both XAVC S and AVCHD adopt the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 compression technology, but they are not compatible. XAVC brings to life the “Beyond HD” vision and has been designed to serve the quality requirements of feature films, HDTV and commercials beyond 1080.
You can watach the YouTube video for an XAVC VS AVCHD codec side by side comparison. Or keep reading to learn the main differences of XAVC vs AVCHD from the text version.

XAVC S has been designed to support all current popular AV media resolutions, including 4K, QFHD, 2K, HD and SD as a proxy. So you can shoot in any resolution you like. While AVCHD, it usually allows for HD recording (1080i, 1080P, and 720P) and SD recording (480i and 576i).

XAVC S is commonly wrapped in MP4 container format with AAC or LPCM audio. And Sony models like Sony Alpha a6300, Sony Alpha 7R II, Sony Alpha 7S II, Sony FDR-X1000V, etc., are bale to record footage in XAVC S mode.
While AVCHD uses MPEG-2 transport stream (also called MTS) wrapper format. AVCHD camcorders like Sony HDR-CX100 provide switchable SD/HD solid state recordings with AC3 audio. AVCHD uses the MPEG-4 AVC / H.264 compression codec for recording and is now used with most Blu-ray Disc content.

The specified AVCHD frame rates are:

NTSC-compatible frame rate: 29.97 fps (1080i60, 720p60)

PAL-compatible frame rate: 25 fps (1080i50, 720p50)

Film-compatible frame rate: 23.98 fps (1080p24, 720p24)

However, frame rates of XAVC S are varied with different camcorder productions. For example, F55/F5 support up to 180 fps, while PXW-X500 supports up to 120 fps only when installing PXWK-503 slow and quick option. The PXW-FS5 supports up to 240 fps Full HD.

Compared with AVCHD, XAVC S has a higher bit rate, resulting in better video quality. Hence, the XAVC S video will occupy a large space.

Especially, the large XAVC S 4K video will take up much valuable space, and is not conducive to sharing and uploading. So, you’d better compress your video first and then upload to video-sharing sites.

XAVC S: ILCE-7S/PWRKIT, ILCE-7S/XLRKIT1

AVCHD: HXR-NX5R, HXR-MC2500, HXR-NX100, HXR-NX80, etc.

At present AVCHD has matured and is popular with most camcorder productions, while XAVC S are gradually occupying the camcorder market because of its more powerful performances.

If you want to edit and convert XAVC S videos to MP4 or other popular videos for uploading to video-sharing sites, this software must be your best choice. Within only a few clicks, you can successfully finish the whole conversion process, moreover, you can compress video size with minimum quality loss. All of the operation will be self-explanatory even if you're not tech-savvy. Download and give it a shot.

According to the above comparison of XAVC S vs AVCHD, you have already known the difference between the two (XAVC S HD vs AVCHD). But whether XAVC S or AVCHD, it may be incompatible with default players or editing tools. For the average user, there is no need to do a professional post editing, and their more demands are to compress video, play, upload and share video freely. Hence, a powerful video converter as well as a video compressor is very necessary.

HD Video Converter Factory Pro is such a program that allows 4K (UHD) video conversion, designed with advanced high-definition video conversion technology, such as convert and compress 4K to 1080P. Besides, you can also customize parameters of output video like resolution, bit rate, frame rate, etc. Now, just free download free download the XAVC converter on your Windows OS computer.

Sincerely hope this tutorial will help you learn more about XAVC S vs AVCHD. And the all-in-one application recommended above can help you edit, compress and convert XAVC S footage without hassle.

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