AVCHD DVD

Philly Bill

Member Location: Philadelphia, PA Joined: Dec 28, 2010 20:26 Messages: 57 Offline

Solved by

Jan 08, 2011 14:56

I'm thoroughly frustrated by this whole AVCHD thing. I've owned and used a Panasonic SD9 for almost three years and shot all my videos with it; sitting patiently until the hardware/software could catch up and allow me to edit like I did with SD tape. From my signature you can see I have the necessary hardware (one would think) and PD9 (which I think I love).

My first attempt at a burning an AVCHD DVD went smoothly (that opening gift box routine has to go; but that's for another posting). However I only think it went well because I can't seem to find anyway to play it on my blu-ray player in my computer. So, this probably isn't even a question about PD9 but I'm reaching out to anyone who was in my position and found a solution.

The problem is that in Windows 7 autoplay settings, the only setting for "blu-ray disc movie" is HP Media Smart; nothing else is offered. First, I realize that an AVCHD disc may not be a "blu-ray disc movie" however, for every other choice (including "DVD Movie" and "Enhanced DVD Movie") I've selected Windows Media Player (v12) as my default start-up program (yes I rebooted after the changes). But whenever I insert the above mentioned AVCHD Disc I created in PD9, it still defaults to HP Media Smart. Well guess what; HP Media Smart ain't so smart. It doesn't recognize the format and those geniuses in Silicon Valley don't seem to think it is important that their "smart" software enter the 21st Century.

This is all so very frustrating. Does anyone out there have any solutions?

Bill

P.S. I got a 30 day warning and activation requirement before I could burn the AVCHD DVD. Is this some sort of "extra charge" feature that I'll have to buy?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jan 08. 2011 14:56

HP Pavilion Elite 410f. AMD Phenom II 1045T (six core), ATI Radeon HD 5570 Graphics Card w/1GB, 8GB memory, terabyte HD, generic multi optical, LG BD burner, both Lightscribe, Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. Formerly used Ulead/Corel VideoStudio.

Cap'n Kevin

Senior Contributor Location: Chebeague Island, Maine Joined: Dec 26, 2008 20:22 Messages: 2011 Offline

Jan 08, 2011 15:26

Hi Philly Bill,

Welcome to the forum!

I am a little confused because if your PC came with a Blu-Ray player you would think there would be software to play your AVCHD and Blu-Ray discs. Sorry that I can't help with the Media Smart application.

But as far as I know you need to have a Blu-Ray software player to play your AVCHD discs....There are players that can play the m2ts video file found in the "Stream" folder on the AVCHD disc. I use a player called "Splash Lite", it's free, just google it and you can browse to the folder and play back the file.

But if you want to play it back with menus you need a blu-ray software player. I use Cyberlink's Power DVD 10 and it works fine. You might try the 30 day free trial and see if at least works for you.

Let us know if you need some further help.

Kevin

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pjc3

Senior Member Location: Australia Joined: May 29, 2010 19:33 Messages: 247 Offline

Jan 08, 2011 15:31

Are you wanting to just check if it worked or actually watch the disc?

You can load the disc back into PD and see the disc structure and play the titles in "capture" mode (but not actually capturing) Panasonic SD9, Panasonic TM700, Panasonic SD600, GoPro HD Hero.

Philly Bill

Member Location: Philadelphia, PA Joined: Dec 28, 2010 20:26 Messages: 57 Offline

Jan 08, 2011 15:41

Kevin, I agree with you. One would think that if a company like HP bundles a blu-ray player with their systems that they would give you the tools to actually use it. I've googled this problem and I'm not alone. The bundled player software doesn't play Blu-ray discs (and apparently not AVCHD discs). Very strange.

Pjc3. Ideally I'd like to actually view the disc with its menu and other functionalities. Even if I can't view it, I'd like to be confident that I can provide a hi-def video to a friend that will actually play in their blu-ray players. Otherwise, I'm confined to DVD standard def format which kind of defeats the whole AVCHD camcorder purpose.

If I have to buy a software player, I'd rather just pony up for an internal blu-ray burner which presumably will include the playing software. (Or will it? hmmmmm).

P.S. Obviously, I don't have a TV blu-ray player or I'd try it there.

HP Pavilion Elite 410f. AMD Phenom II 1045T (six core), ATI Radeon HD 5570 Graphics Card w/1GB, 8GB memory, terabyte HD, generic multi optical, LG BD burner, both Lightscribe, Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. Formerly used Ulead/Corel VideoStudio.

pjc3

Senior Member Location: Australia Joined: May 29, 2010 19:33 Messages: 247 Offline

Jan 08, 2011 16:22

Quote:
Pjc3. Ideally I'd like to actually view the disc with its menu and other functionalities. Even if I can't view it, I'd like to be confident that I can provide a hi-def video to a friend that will actually play in their blu-ray players.

Yep, you can preview the menus etc. Just load the disc, start PD and go to the "capture" Tab. Select the drive and then click on each "title" which plays the menu, the "chapters" play the video segments. I use this method to check the disc before I send them off if I can't be bothered walking 20m to the bluray player Panasonic SD9, Panasonic TM700, Panasonic SD600, GoPro HD Hero.