CyberLink today announced support for the Advanced Video Codec High Definition Standard (AVCHD) for video playback and authoring.

CyberLink has already incorporated AVCHD support in high-definition disc player software PowerDVD Ultra, and will launch support for disc authoring software PowerProducer mid-year.

PowerDVD Ultra has passed certification for the AVCHD format from official tests conducted by the AVCHD Testing Center in Japan.

AVCHD is based on the MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) video format, enabling recording of high-definition 1080i and 720p video onto discs. With faster seek times for accessing content compared with miniDVD, and offering higher compression requiring less storage space than MPEG-2, the format is regarded as superior choice for consumers in the expanding high-definition camcorder market.

Currently Sony and Panasonic have camcorders supporting the AVCHD for recording, while Blu-ray Disc players support AVCHD playback. CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra enables playback of discs and files created using the AVCHD format on the PC. PowerProducer will support the authoring and burning of AVCHD content.