How do FLV and WMVcompare? Here's everything you need to know to choose the right format — and how to convert between them.
Flash Video
FLV was the dominant web video format during the Flash era. While Flash is dead, FLV files still exist in archives and legacy systems. Converting FLV to MP4 is one of the most common conversion needs.
Windows Media Video
WMV is Microsoft's proprietary video format. It was popular on Windows platforms in the 2000s but has largely been replaced by MP4. WMV files are still encountered in corporate and legacy environments.
| Specification | FLV | WMV |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Flash Video | Windows Media Video |
| Extension | .flv | .wmv |
| MIME type | video/x-flv | video/x-ms-wmv |
| Category | Video | Video |
| Developer | Adobe (Macromedia) | Microsoft |
| Year introduced | 2003 | 1999 |
FLV and WMV target different use cases. FLV is ideal for converting old web videos, while WMV works best for legacy windows video libraries.
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