Convert MTS to DV — Free Online Tool
Convert MTS (AVCHD) camcorder footage to DV format, transcoding H.264 video to intra-frame DVvideo codec and AC-3/AAC audio to uncompressed PCM. Useful for editors working with legacy DV-based workflows or hardware that requires the DV container.
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FFmpeg Command
Copy this command to run the same conversion locally with FFmpeg on your desktop. Download FFmpeg
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Note: Browser-based encoding uses approximate quality targets. For precise CRF compression, copy the FFmpeg command above and run it on your desktop.
Estimated output:
Conversion Complete!
DownloadHow It Works
MTS files store video as H.264 (AVC) inside an MPEG-2 Transport Stream container, typically recorded by Sony or Panasonic AVCHD camcorders. DV uses a fundamentally different compression scheme — intra-frame DCT compression via the dvvideo codec — meaning every single frame is compressed independently without reference to other frames. This conversion requires a full re-encode: FFmpeg decodes the H.264 stream frame by frame and re-encodes each frame using the dvvideo codec at a fixed bitrate (approximately 25 Mbps for standard DV). The AC-3 or AAC audio track is simultaneously transcoded to 16-bit signed little-endian PCM (pcm_s16le), which is the only audio format the DV container supports. Because DV has strict constraints on frame size and pixel format (typically 720x480 for NTSC or 720x576 for PAL at yuv411p), FFmpeg will also rescale and convert the colorspace if the source MTS footage is at a different resolution or uses a different chroma subsampling.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg binary. This is the same engine running in your browser via WebAssembly — copying this command lets you run the identical conversion locally on your desktop for files larger than 1GB or for batch processing multiple MTS files. |
-i input.mts
|
Specifies the input file — an MTS file containing AVCHD video encoded as H.264 inside an MPEG-2 Transport Stream container, as produced by Sony or Panasonic camcorders. FFmpeg will demux both the H.264 video and the AC-3 or AAC audio streams for processing. |
-c:v dvvideo
|
Re-encodes the video stream using the dvvideo codec, which implements the DV intra-frame DCT compression standard. This is a full transcode from H.264 — every frame is independently compressed at a fixed bitrate of approximately 25 Mbps, which is the only bitrate standard DV supports. |
-c:a pcm_s16le
|
Transcodes the compressed AC-3 or AAC audio from the MTS file to 16-bit signed little-endian uncompressed PCM, the only audio format the DV container accepts. This increases audio data size compared to the compressed source but is required for DV compatibility. |
output.dv
|
Specifies the output file with the .dv extension, which tells FFmpeg to use the DV container format. This container wraps the dvvideo stream and pcm_s16le audio in a format readable by DV hardware devices, legacy editing software, and any modern NLE with DV support. |
Common Use Cases
- Importing AVCHD camcorder footage into older non-linear editing software (such as legacy versions of Final Cut Pro or Avid) that only accepts DV streams as a native editing format.
- Transferring footage to a DV deck or DV tape duplicator for archival or distribution on physical tape media, where the device only accepts DV-formatted input.
- Roundtripping footage through a DV-based hardware device such as a DV mixer or analog capture card that uses IEEE 1394 (FireWire) and requires the DV bitstream format.
- Preparing AVCHD footage for use in a broadcast workflow or duplication facility that standardized on DV as its ingest format before AVCHD became widespread.
- Converting modern AVCHD recordings for playback or editing on an older laptop or workstation that lacks the processing power to decode H.264 in real time but handles intra-frame DV smoothly.
- Creating DV proxy files from high-resolution MTS footage for offline editing, taking advantage of DV's intra-frame structure for faster scrubbing and frame-accurate editing on constrained systems.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, some quality degradation is unavoidable because this is a transcode between two lossy codecs with different compression philosophies. H.264 in AVCHD typically uses 4:2:0 chroma subsampling at around 17–24 Mbps, while standard DV uses 4:1:1 chroma subsampling (NTSC) or 4:2:0 (PAL) at a fixed ~25 Mbps. The chroma subsampling change — especially the 4:1:1 in NTSC DV — can reduce fine color detail. Additionally, if your MTS footage was recorded in a resolution other than 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL), FFmpeg will rescale it to fit DV's fixed frame dimensions, which may introduce further softness.
The DV specification was designed in the mid-1990s for standard-definition camcorders and rigidly defines frame dimensions: 720x480 for NTSC (29.97fps) or 720x576 for PAL (25fps). There is no high-definition variant of standard DV — DVCPRO HD and HDV are separate formats not written to a plain .dv container with dvvideo. If your MTS footage is 1080i, 1080p, or 4K, FFmpeg will automatically scale it down to the appropriate SD resolution, resulting in a significant reduction in detail. This is an inherent limitation of the DV format itself, not a tool restriction.
The DV container only supports PCM audio (pcm_s16le — 16-bit, little-endian, uncompressed), so the compressed AC-3 or AAC audio in your MTS file must be fully decoded and stored uncompressed. Uncompressed PCM is significantly larger per second than AC-3 or AAC — for example, stereo 48kHz 16-bit PCM runs at about 1.5 Mbps versus roughly 192–384 kbps for typical AC-3. However, because DV video itself is much larger than H.264 at equivalent durations, the audio size difference is usually a minor fraction of the total file size. The primary driver of DV's large file size (~12 GB per hour) is the video codec, not the audio.
No — the DV container supports only a single stereo (or mono) audio track. If your MTS file contains multiple audio tracks (for example, a main mix and a secondary language track, or separate left/right channels recorded by a dual-channel camcorder), FFmpeg will by default map only the first audio stream to the output DV file. The remaining audio tracks will be silently dropped. If you need to preserve a specific secondary audio track, you would need to modify the FFmpeg command to explicitly map the desired audio stream using the -map flag before running the conversion.
You can use FFmpeg's -map flag to explicitly select streams. For example, to use the second audio track from your MTS file, add -map 0:v:0 -map 0:a:1 before the output filename: ffmpeg -i input.mts -map 0:v:0 -map 0:a:1 -c:v dvvideo -c:a pcm_s16le output.dv. This is particularly relevant for MTS files recorded with dual audio channels on Sony camcorders. Note that since DV only supports one audio track, you can only map a single audio stream to the output.
Yes, on the command line you can use a shell loop to process multiple files. On Linux or macOS, run: for f in *.mts; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:v dvvideo -c:a pcm_s16le "${f%.mts}.dv"; done. On Windows Command Prompt, use: for %f in (*.mts) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -c:v dvvideo -c:a pcm_s16le "%~nf.dv". Be aware that because this conversion involves a full re-encode of H.264 to dvvideo, batch processing large MTS files is CPU-intensive and will take significant time depending on your machine's processing power.
Technical Notes
The dvvideo codec in FFmpeg enforces strict constraints inherited from the DV specification: output must be either 720x480 at 29.97fps (NTSC) or 720x576 at 25fps (PAL), using yuv411p pixel format for NTSC or yuv420p for PAL. If the source MTS file's frame rate or resolution doesn't match one of these profiles, FFmpeg will attempt automatic conversion, but the result may have incorrect playback speed or aspect ratio. AVCHD footage is often recorded with non-square pixels (anamorphic), and the pixel aspect ratio metadata in the MTS container may not carry over cleanly into the DV file — you may need to verify display aspect ratio in your editor after import. Subtitles and chapter markers present in the MTS source are not preserved, as the DV container supports neither. Timecode from the original camcorder recording may also be lost or reset during the transcode. Because DV uses intra-frame-only compression (no B-frames or P-frames), the resulting DV file will be significantly larger than the source MTS — expect roughly 12 GB per hour of footage versus 3–8 GB per hour for typical AVCHD recordings. This also means DV files are easier to edit frame-accurately without needing to decode surrounding frames.