The format employs MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 codec for video compression, and Dolby Digital (AC-3) or Linear PCM for audio codec. Data transfer rate is maximum 18 Mbits per second. The 8-cm DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD-R and DVD+RW and DVD+R discs can be used.
While present DVD formats employ MPEG 2 video compression, the AVCHD format will use H.264 video compression to store HD images on an 8-cm DVD disk with 1.46 Gbyte capacity. It compresses data at twice the efficiency of conventional MPEG 2; a one-sided DVD disc can store 20 minutes of high-resolution digital images while a two sided disc can store 40 minutes of footage at a 9 Mbps data rate.