MTS to M2V Converter

MTS to M2V Converter

MTS is the AVCHD camcorder format — an H.264 video stream wrapped in an MPEG-2 transport container with Dolby AC-3 or LPCM audio. M2V is an MPEG-2 elementary video stream: it carries the picture only, with no audio track by definition. This converter re-encodes the H.264 video inside your MTS file to MPEG-2 and writes it out as a bare .m2v stream, the video half that DVD-authoring tools expect.

The audio is dropped on purpose. An .m2v file cannot hold an audio track — the format is video-only by definition, so the camcorder's AC-3 or LPCM sound is discarded during conversion. If you want a single file that keeps the sound, convert to a container instead: MTS to MPG or MTS to MP4. If you are authoring a DVD, that is expected — see the workflow note below.

MTS (AVCHD) Format at a Glance

M2V Format at a Glance

How to Convert MTS to M2V

1. Upload Your MTS File: Drag and drop your .mts (or .m2ts) file onto the page, or click "Add Files". You can queue several clips at once.
2. Confirm the Video Codec: M2V output defaults to the MPEG-2 codec, which is the only codec a standards-compliant DVD stream accepts. You can change it under Advanced Options, but leave it on MPEG-2 for DVD authoring.
3. Set File Compression or Resolution (Optional): Use File Compression to target a Specific file size or a Constant Bitrate (keep the peak at or below 9.8 Mbit/s for DVD), and Video resolution to scale to 720×480 or 720×576 if you are targeting a disc.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically a few hours after conversion — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared.

The DVD-Authoring Workflow

Professional DVD authoring works from demuxed assets: a separate video stream and a separate audio stream are imported side by side into tools like DVDStyler or TMPGEnc Authoring Works, which multiplex them into the final disc. This page produces the video half — the .m2v stream. For the audio half, convert the same MTS file with MTS to AC3, which extracts the camcorder's Dolby Digital track into the AC-3 file DVD-Video uses. Feed both files into your authoring tool and it will build a compliant title. Going the other way, M2V to MTS re-wraps an elementary stream back into an AVCHD container.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my M2V file have no sound?

Because the M2V format has no place to put it. An .m2v is a bare MPEG-2 elementary video stream — the specification defines it as video only, so any audio in the source MTS is dropped during conversion. This is normal for DVD authoring, where the audio is supplied separately. If you need the sound in the same file, convert to a container such as MPG or MP4 instead.

Does converting H.264 to MPEG-2 lose quality?

MPEG-2 is an older, less efficient codec than the H.264 in your MTS file, so at the same bitrate it stores the picture less efficiently and re-encoding is lossy. For DVD work this is unavoidable — the DVD-Video spec only accepts MPEG-2. To minimise visible loss, keep the bitrate near the DVD ceiling of 9.8 Mbit/s rather than compressing harder than the disc requires.

What resolution and bitrate should I use for a DVD?

DVD-Video allows MPEG-2 at up to 9.8 Mbit/s peak, at 720×480 for NTSC regions or 720×576 for PAL regions. Set Video resolution to one of those and keep the Constant or Variable Bitrate peak at or below 9.8 Mbit/s so the stream stays within spec. Going above either limit produces a file most DVD-authoring tools will reject.

Can I author a DVD straight from the M2V file?

Not on its own — the .m2v is video only. DVD-authoring tools such as DVDStyler or TMPGEnc Authoring Works expect a video stream plus a separate audio file, then multiplex the two. Pair this M2V with an AC-3 audio file extracted from the same MTS, import both, and the tool will build the title.

Why does DVD use MPEG-2 instead of the H.264 already in my MTS?

The DVD-Video standard was finalised in the late 1990s, years before H.264 existed, and it specifies H.262/MPEG-2 Part 2 as the only video codec. DVD players decode MPEG-2 in hardware and have no H.264 decoder, so even though your AVCHD footage is already H.264, it has to be re-encoded to MPEG-2 to play from a standards-compliant disc.

In testing, how large is a converted M2V stream?

In our testing, a 1-minute 1080p MTS clip re-encoded to MPEG-2 at a 9 Mbit/s bitrate produced an M2V stream of roughly 65 MB. Because M2V is uncompressed-container raw video at a fixed bitrate, file size scales almost linearly with duration and bitrate — halving the bitrate roughly halves the file.

How long do you keep my uploaded files?

Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection and processed on our servers, then deleted automatically a few hours after conversion. We never share, publish, or reuse them, and no sign-up is required to convert.