About the Wmv file format
- Name
- Windows Media Video
- Extension
- .wmv
- Format
- Binary
- Category
- Video
- Developer
- Microsoft
- Description
- A WMV file is a video file based on the Microsoft Advanced Systems Format (ASF) container format and compressed with Windows Media compression. It contains video encoded with one of Microsoft's Windows Media Video (WMV) proprietary codecs and is similar to an .ASF file.
- MIME Type
- video/x-ms-wmv
- Sample
- sample.wmv
- Wikipedia
- .wmv on Wikipedia
Windows Media Video ( WMV) is an audio/ video format that stores information digitally. It may also hold short animations. It contains a sequence of video codecs initially developed by Microsoft. It was designed mainly for use in internet streaming apps. The intention of developing the WMV was primarily to compete with RealVideo. File formats that needed physical delivery (Blu ray Disc and HD DVD ) were among the first to adopt the WMV.
WMV is also one of the most known video compression formats. It exists in an already compressed form though it can be compressed further using available software for easy uploading to websites. It competes with other video formats such as Audio Video Standard, RealVideo, and MPEG-4_AVC.
ASF (Advanced System Format) is the Container format that is used by the WMV file to encode the content in the data. Thanks to its ability to store video and audios while taking little space, the WMV has been suitable for online streaming. The format is compatible with most applications, which makes it ideal for it to run in any Windows device.
Windows Media Player, Media Player Classic, and VLC Media Player are among the software that can play WMV files.