.mts files
.mts file
AVCHD Video
The clip format written by Sony, Panasonic and Canon camcorders.
What opens a .mts file
- Windows
- VLC, Media Player (built in), MPC-HC
- macOS
- VLC, QuickTime Player (built in), IINA
- Linux
- VLC, mpv
What a .mts file is
MTS files are AVCHD clips — H.264 video in an MPEG transport stream — stored inside a BDMV/STREAM folder structure on the camcorder's card. Copying only the .mts files works for playback but loses the clip ordering and metadata the folder holds. VLC plays them as they are; most editors prefer them converted or imported through the camera manufacturer's software. Files copied to a computer sometimes appear as .m2ts, which is the same thing.
Converting it
A .mts file is commonly converted to .mp4, .mkv, .mov or .avi. It is a binary format, so a text editor will show unreadable characters rather than its contents.
Details
- Extension
- .mts
- Full name
- AVCHD Video
- Category
- Video
- MIME type
- video/mp2t
- Created by
- Sony / Panasonic (AVCHD)
- Format
- Binary
Common questions
- How do I open a .mts file?
- On Windows use VLC; on macOS use VLC; on Linux use VLC. The clip format written by Sony, Panasonic and Canon camcorders.
- What is a .mts file?
- AVCHD Video. MTS files are AVCHD clips — H.264 video in an MPEG transport stream — stored inside a BDMV/STREAM folder structure on the camcorder's card. Copying only the .mts files works for playback but loses the clip ordering and metadata the folder holds.
- Can I convert a .mts file?
- Yes. It is usually converted to .mp4, .mkv, .mov or .avi, either by exporting from one of the programs listed above or with a format converter.
Related pages
- .mp4 — MPEG-4 Part 14 Video The default video container for phones, cameras, streaming and everything else.
- .mov — QuickTime Movie Apple's video container — what an iPhone records and what Final Cut works in.
- .mkv — Matroska Video An open container that holds any codec plus multiple audio tracks and subtitles.
- .avi — Audio Video Interleave Microsoft's 1992 video container, still common in old archives and camcorder foo
- .srt — SubRip Subtitle The plain-text subtitle format almost every player understands.
- .webm — WebM Video A royalty-free video container built for the web, based on Matroska.
- .ts — MPEG Transport Stream The broadcast and streaming video segment format — also, confusingly, the TypeSc
- .wmv — Windows Media Video Microsoft's legacy video format from the Windows XP era.
- .mpg — MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 Video The original MPEG video file, from Video CDs, DVDs and old digital cameras.
- .m4v — iTunes Video Apple's MP4 variant, used for films and TV episodes bought from iTunes.
- .vtt — WebVTT Caption The W3C caption format HTML5 video uses, essentially SRT with a header and styli
- .swf — Shockwave Flash Movie A Flash animation or game — the plugin that ran these was killed off at the end
Sources
- Media Types Registry — IANA
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place