WMV

Technology & Computing abbreviation · File Format

WMV
Stands forWindows Media Video
CategoriesTechnology & Computing

WMV stands for Windows Media Video, a file format abbreviation.

Microsoft's video compression format and file type, introduced in 1999 for Windows Media Player and widely used for downloads and corporate video in the 2000s. Files usually sit in the ASF container.

Example: The training videos from 2006 are WMV files, so we're converting them to MP4 for the new portal.

Usage notes

WMV 9 was standardized by SMPTE in 2006 as VC-1, one of the three video codecs approved for Blu-ray discs. The format declined as H.264 and MP4 became universal and as Microsoft shifted away from Windows Media technologies. Macs need third-party players to open WMV files.

More file format abbreviations

  • VTT – Web Video Text Tracks
  • VVC – Versatile Video Coding
  • WAV – Waveform Audio File Format
  • WebM – WebM video format
  • WebP – WebP image format
  • WMA – Windows Media Audio
  • XLS – Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (legacy binary format)
  • XLSM – Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook
  • XLSX – Office Open XML spreadsheet
  • XPS – XML Paper Specification
  • XZ – XZ compressed file
  • ZIP – ZIP archive

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