M2TS to AV1 Converter

Convert M2TS to AV1 Online

M2TS is the large, HD container that Blu-ray discs and AVCHD camcorders write — usually H.264 video at high bitrates. Re-encoding it to AV1, the royalty-free codec from the Alliance for Open Media, can shrink those files dramatically at matching quality, which makes AV1 a good target for archiving old camcorder footage. Two honest caveats up front: this is a re-encode, not a remux, so there is some generation loss; and a raw .av1 file is a video-only elementary stream with no audio — if you need a playable file that keeps the M2TS's soundtrack, convert to AV1-in-WebM instead.

How to Convert M2TS to AV1

1. Upload Your M2TS File: Drag and drop your .m2ts clip onto the page or click "+ Add Files." Camcorder M2TS files are often several gigabytes, so the main wait is the upload over your connection.
2. Choose a Quality mode: Use Constant Quality for archiving — it holds visual quality steady and lets the file size float, which is ideal for AV1. Specific file size or Constant Bitrate are available if you need to hit a fixed target.
3. Set the Preset and Resolution (optional): The encoder Preset trades speed for compression (the default leans toward higher quality); under Video resolution you can keep the original or pick a Preset Resolution to downscale.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert and download your AV1 file. No sign-up, no watermark.

AV1 vs H.264 (the codec inside most M2TS files)

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my AV1 file have no sound?

A raw .av1 file is a bare elementary video stream — it carries only the AV1 video data, with no audio track and no container to hold one. That is expected for the .av1 format, not a fault. If you want the M2TS's soundtrack preserved in a playable file, convert to AV1-in-WebM, which wraps AV1 video and an audio track in one container, or to MP4 for the broadest device compatibility.

How much smaller will my M2TS file get?

At equal visual quality, AV1 is generally about 30-50% smaller than the H.264 that most M2TS files use, with the biggest savings on high-resolution footage. The exact result depends on the quality setting you choose and the original bitrate. Because Blu-ray and AVCHD M2TS files are often recorded at generous bitrates, the proportional savings are usually on the high end of that range.

Will I lose quality converting M2TS to AV1?

Some, because this is a re-encode rather than a straight copy — every lossy-to-lossy transcode adds a small amount of generation loss. In practice, using Constant Quality at a high setting keeps the result visually close to the source while still shrinking the file, since AV1 is more efficient than the original H.264. For true archival masters where you cannot accept any loss, keep the original M2TS as well.

Why is AV1 encoding so slow?

AV1's compression gains come from a much larger and more complex search space than H.264, so software encoders do far more work per frame — reference encoders can be many times slower than an H.264 encode at comparable quality. The encoder Preset lets you trade some compression for speed. A large camcorder M2TS can take a while to finish; this is inherent to the codec, not a queue.

What plays a raw .av1 file?

VLC plays raw AV1 streams, and modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) decode AV1 in supported containers. On Windows 10/11 the built-in Photos and Movies & TV apps gain AV1 support after installing the AV1 Video Extension; recent Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA GPUs add hardware decoding. For a file that "just plays" with audio on most devices, a container output like WebM or MP4 is the safer choice than a bare .av1.

Is this conversion private?

Your file is uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours. There is no sign-up, no watermark, and your file is never shared or made public. In our testing, a 1080p AVCHD M2TS at default Constant Quality settings produced an AV1 stream roughly a third to a half the original size, depending on scene complexity.