AVCHD, BD, DVD, VCD and SVCD
There are several factors to consider in choosing an output format for your project. These include your desired output quality, target playback device, and viewing screen size, among others. Here are the advantages and disadvantages that picking each output format entails:
AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) A new digital video camera recording format that records 1080i and 720p high definition quality and stores data in 8 cm recordable DVDs, flash memory cards or hard disks.
BD (Blu-ray Disc) Developed by the Blu-ray disc Association, BD is an optical disc format that uses a blue-violet laser, allowing data to be packed in 25 and 50 GB Blu-ray discs and play high definition video.
Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) is popular in video production because of its quality. Not only does it guarantee superb audio and video quality, it can also hold several times more data than VCDs and SVCDs. DVDs make use of the MPEG-2 format, which has a much bigger file size than MPEG-1, and can likewise be produced as single or dual-sided, and single and dual-layered. They can be played on stand-alone DVD players or on the DVD-ROM drive of your PC.
Video Compact Disc (VCD) is a special version of a CD-ROM that uses the MPEG-1 format. The quality of the exported movie is almost the same, but usually better than VHS tape-based movies. A VCD can be played back on a CD-ROM drive, VCD player, and even on a DVD player.
Super Video CD (SVCD) is commonly described as an enhanced version of VCD. It is based on MPEG-2 technology with Variable Bit Rate (VBR) support. The typical running time of an SVCD is about 30-45 minutes. Although you could extend this to 70 minutes, you will have to compromise sound and image quality. SVCDs can be played back on stand-alone VCD/SVCD players, most DVD players, and all CD-ROM/DVD-ROM with a DVD/SVCD player software.