Windows Media Video or WMV for short is a general term that is used as a solution for video encoding that is also developed by Microsoft. WMV file can be formatted in different ways that constitute the framework of Windows Media. Examples of these formats are the Advanced Systems Format or ASF, Windows Audio or CMA and High Definition Photo or HDP for short. These files make use of a container format provided by Microsoft thus representing its very own version of the technology used for MPEG-4 video encoding.
WMV format was initially launched in the year 1999. At present, it is a strong competitor of other codecs including RealVideo and DivX which are all involved in video content distribution via the Internet. The subsequent codec versions were primarily introduced from 2001 to 2003.
These files can only be played by using a built-in Windows player in specifically the Windows Media Player. Only WMP versions 7 and above can play this type of files. Other existing video players can also play this file. Examples of these players are WinAMP, BSPlayer, MPlayer and even with VLC Media Player.When the extension file.wmv is used, it simply indicated that codecs of Windows Media Video should be used. There are times that extension file is simplified to.wm.
The.wmv extension usually describes files in ASF format that use Windows Media Video codecs. As for the audio codecs, they're usually versions of Windows Media Audio or the Sipro ACELP.net audio codec. The extension is sometimes shortened to.wm. Files in WMV format have several features including an efficient delivery of data through a wide range of protocols in a particular network. It is also compatible with local playback. It has a number of capabilities including component download and having media types that are scalable.
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