[begentle]

Hi again,

please could someone recommend a free software package that will enable me to watch my SD5 HD footage without complicated manipulations / codec issues

how does VLC stack up ?

cheers

[senu]

Originally Posted by begentle

how does VLC stack up ?

Not very well

The only one I know would be Nero Showtime ( and it is not really free although Nero is fairly Ubiquitous).
Im afraid there is no getting past the codec issues :I even managed to stop my Nero from working by installing a "megacodec pack" ( It did seem clever at the time.. it wasnt )
Even Power DVD Ultra in its updated guise doesn't like playing media files
Does the Panasonic not come with viewing Software?

[alpine101]

At the free-ish software level the best is the free MediaPlayerClassic with the free AC3FILTER for the audio and the chargeable CoreAVC video codec. Their $7.50 one only handles one core. If you have a dual or quad core PC, then the $15 version will use them and improve overall performance.
I agree with Senu. VLC likes to use its own codecs and on my machines crashes on Panny AVCHD files. It may be possible to tune it, but I haven't bothered...
Rather than watching the raw files, you could also download the Free trial version of Elecard Converter Studio AVCHD Edition which will transcode the files to MPEG files which most players will handle. The transcoding process does take time though. The trial version handles 15000 frame clips. They do other converters, but this is the one to go for.