WMV (Windows Media Video)
Windows Media Video or WMV is a file format developed by Microsoft to store video content in a compressed format so that movies and other video programs can be viewed on a personal computer. Streaming video content over the Internet was popularized by RealVideo and WMV was Microsoft’s version of the same technology.
The WMV format incorporates a codec, or encoder / decoder pair that is used to initially compress the file during creation and decompress it on the fly while being played on a computer. Video codecs have been developed by various companies and WMV is a proprietary standard drafted by Microsoft, which was approved by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) in the spring of 2006. This has popularized the use of the WMV standard as a means of recording video content on HD DVD as well as Blu-ray Discs.
WMV files can be played on all the latest versions of Windows. Windows Movie Maker that is part of Windows XP enables users to create, edit and store their video content in WMV format. WMV files can also be played on the Mac OS X through Windows Media Player for the Mac. Currently, a 3rd party plug-in called Flip4Mac WMV is the most preferred method used by Macintosh users to view WMV files on the QuickTime player.
The WMV standard also supports Digital Rights Management or DRM which enables the creators or distributors of video content to protect their programs so that only paid subscribers could watch their content. This particular feature created a lot of controversies and gave rise to a lot of complaints from users who could not view some video files due to system incompatibilities and lack of software support. Zune, Microsoft’s portable audio / video player for instance does not support DRM thus rendering Zune users incapable of watching WMV content protected by DRM.
Online stores and devices that are PlayForSure-certified implement the WMV video codec for all their services as a mandatory requirement. The Xbox 360, Microsoft Zune and various other mobile devices that run Windows Media Player also support the WMV codec. Moreover, WMV is the sole codec supported by Microsoft’s Silverlight Video Streaming platform.
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