Windows Media Video

Windows Media Video (WMV) is a generic name for the set of streaming video technologies developed and controlled by Microsoft. This does not necessarily define what technology it uses -- from version 7 (WMV7) Microsoft has used its own non-standard version of MPEG-4. The DivX video format is originally based on cracked WMV codec. Usually WMV video is packed into an ASF (Active Streaming Format) container.

WMV files are customarily played by the proprietary Windows Media Player on Microsoft Windows and Macintosh systems. Some third-party players also exist.

WMV features digital rights management facilities.

See also:

• MPlayer - third-party open source cross-platform media player capable of playing many WMV files
• Windows Media Audio - the sound-only counterpart