MTS vs M2TS / M2TS vs MTS: What is the Difference between MTS and M2TS?

Q: My Sony camera produces a .mts file during recording. After using the supplied PMB app, .m2ts files will be created after importing to my PC. As far as I know, MTS and M2TS have, in fact, the same file size. Are .mts and .m2ts files the exact same thing?

A: Make a long story short, MTS and M2TS can accommodate the same video and audio codecs, including H.264, MPEG4, AC3, and AAC. Both offer great video quality. Of course, there are differences in some aspects like their usage, playback, or compatibility. In the following section, let's take a closer look at the comparison of MTS vs M2TS.

Hot search: Best Free MTS Video Converter | MTS to MOV | M2TS to MP4 | M2TS to MKV

Both MTS file and M2TS file are associated with video files using AVCHD format (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video coding and Dolby Digital audio AC-3 audio coding or uncompressed linear PCM audio). So, when it comes to AVCHD, there is no difference between the MTS and M2TS format other than the file name.

Related: XAVC S VS AVCHD | AVCHD VS MP4 | AVCHD Converter | AVCHD to YouTube

1. M2TS vs MTS: Usage

MTS file will be generated on a camcorder after recording, but it will be changed to M2TS after being imported to computer. Simply speaking, MTS is used for recording video while M2TS is for storing video on a Blu-ray disc.

2. MTS vs M2TS: Carriers

Compared with MTS, M2TS can not only be used for high definition videos on AVCHD, is also a BDAV MPEG-2 Transport Stream container format which is a standard used on Blu-ray Discs for multiplexing audio, video and other streams.

3. MTS vs M2TS: Encryption

Almost all commercially produced Blu-ray Discs (includes M2TS files) are encrypted by copy protection methods while MTS files created using AVCHD devices are commonly unencrypted.

Hot search: Copy Protected DVD | Remove CSS Encryption | DVD Copy Protection Removal | Best DVD Ripper for Windows 11

4. M2TS vs MTS: Formats

In addition to supporting AVCHD format, M2TS used on Blu-ray Discs can support any one of H.262/MPEG-2 Part 2, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC or SMPTE VC-1 for video compression and Dolby Digital, DTS or uncompressed Linear PCM for audio compression.

5. MTS vs M2TS: Filename and Directory Structure

AVCHD is forced to use the 8.3 naming convention for saving the files located in the following sample directory.

(e.g. \AVCHD\BDMV\STREAM\00001.MTS)

While Blu-ray Discs can use long filenames and places M2TS files in the following sample directory.

(e.g. \BDMV\STREAM\00001.m2ts or \BDAV\STREAM\00001.m2ts)

In short, the above are the differences between MTS and M2TS in five aspects. MTS and M2TS files are perfect for anyone who wants to record, store and edit HD video in its purest form. These formats are widely spread, and more and more people now consider them to be the standard for HD video storage. After many years, it’s very meaningful to watch your recorded video again!