FLV to Xvid Converter

How to Convert FLV to Xvid Online

1. Upload Your FLV File: Drag and drop or click "Add Files" to select FLV files. Old YouTube downloads, archived Flash-era webinars, screen recordings from streaming sites, and lecture captures saved before Flash EOL all work. Batch is supported — drop in a folder and convert sequentially.
2. Pick the Video Codec and Quality: Default is Xvid (MPEG-4 ASP) — bitstream-compatible with DivX-certified hardware. Switch to DivX if you're matching files in an existing DivX library, or MPEG-4 (Part 2 baseline) for very old set-top boxes that predate DivX 5 certification. Set a quality preset (Highest → Lowest), target a percentage of the source size or an exact size in MB, dial in a constant or variable bitrate (typical: 800-1500 kbps for SD content the typical resolution of old FLVs), or fine-tune with QSCALE quality (lower = better, higher = smaller).
3. Pick the Audio Codec: Default is MP3 — the safest choice for DivX/Xvid hardware decoders. AC-3 is also widely supported on DVD-era set-top boxes. Avoid Opus, Vorbis, FLAC for Xvid output since most Xvid-certified hardware won't decode them.
4. Resize, Trim, and Convert: Pick a fixed resolution preset (854×480, 720×576 PAL DVD, 720×480 NTSC DVD, 640×480, 480×360), enter custom width × height, scale by percentage, or trim using start time + duration in HH:MM:SS.sss format. Old FLVs typically sit at 320×240 or 480×360 — keep the source resolution to avoid upscaling artifacts. Click Convert. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared.

Why Convert FLV to Xvid?

FLV (Flash Video) was the dominant web video format from 2003 through about 2015 — the format YouTube, Vimeo, and most streaming sites used during the Flash era. Adobe officially discontinued Flash Player on December 31, 2020, and on January 12, 2021 Adobe began actively blocking Flash content from running. Modern browsers no longer load Flash. Xvid is the open-source MPEG-4 Part 2 ASP codec (GPL-licensed) typically wrapped in an AVI container — the format that shipped inside millions of DivX-certified DVD players, set-top boxes, and car head units between 2003 and 2015. Re-encoding FLV → Xvid bridges archived Flash-era content to legacy hardware that pre-dates HTML5.

• DivX-Certified DVD players (2003-2012) — Philips, Pioneer, Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic shipped DVD players with the orange "DivX" logo for a decade. Burn the converted .avi to a DVD-R as data and the player reads it like any DivX disc, perfect for resurrecting an archive of old Flash-era recordings.
• Car head units and aftermarket DVD/USB players — Pioneer AVH-series, Kenwood DDX-series, and JVC KW-series in-dash receivers from 2005-2014 are DivX-certified for road-trip movie playback. They reject FLV outright but happily play Xvid .avi over USB.
• DivX-Certified Smart TVs and set-top boxes (2008-2015) — Early LG, Samsung, and Sony Smart TVs with USB playback advertise "DivX HD" support up to 1280×720 in their spec sheet. They can't decode FLV, but Xvid lands directly on the certified profile.
• Archived Flash content — YouTube downloads from 2008-2014, lecture recordings from old Moodle/Blackboard installs, archived webinar captures, and corporate training videos saved as FLV during the Flash era. Xvid puts them into a format playable on any DivX-era hardware you may already own.
• Open-source codec for self-archiving — Xvid is GPL-licensed with no royalty fees. For long-term personal archives where you want a freely re-encodable codec without licensing concerns, Xvid in AVI is a reasonable container choice.
• Portable DivX-era media players — Archos, Cowon, and iRiver portable media players sold before the iPad ran on MPEG-4 ASP. Xvid extends the life of these collectible devices for a Flash-era video archive.

For modern playback (phones, current browsers, smart TVs), convert FLV to MP4 or FLV to WebM instead — Xvid is purely for legacy DivX-era hardware.

FLV vs Xvid (in AVI) — Format Comparison

Xvid vs DivX vs MPEG-4 — Codec Choice for the Output

Resolution Targets for Xvid Output

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert FLV to Xvid in 2026 instead of MP4?

The only reason is hardware compatibility with DivX/Xvid-certified devices made between 2003 and 2015 — DVD players, set-top boxes, car head units, and old Smart TVs that have an MPEG-4 ASP decoder chip and reject H.264. For anything modern (phones, current browsers, recent TVs, computers), pick FLV to MP4 instead — H.264 in MP4 is universal and far more efficient. Xvid is purely a legacy bridge.

What's the difference between Xvid and DivX?

Both implement the same MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile codec. Xvid is open-source (GPL-licensed, community-maintained, free); DivX is the proprietary commercial implementation that originated the certified-hardware ecosystem. Files encoded by Xvid are bitstream-compatible with DivX-certified players in most cases. Pick DivX when matching an existing DivX library for consistent profile flags; pick Xvid when you want a free, open encoder.

Will my old FLVs look better after re-encoding to Xvid?

No — re-encoding cannot recover quality lost by the source FLV's encoding. Old FLVs were typically encoded at 320×240 or 480×360 with low-bitrate Sorenson H.263 or VP6, so the output quality is capped by the source. Keep the source resolution (don't upscale to 720p — that just inflates file size without adding detail) and pick a quality preset of High or Very High to minimize re-encode loss.

Why is the default audio codec MP3 instead of AAC?

DivX and Xvid hardware decoders from 2003-2015 widely support MP3 audio inside AVI but inconsistently support AAC. AAC inside AVI was a non-standard later addition that some certified players reject. MP3 is the safest default for hardware compatibility. AC-3 is also widely supported on DVD-era set-top boxes if you need it. Avoid Opus, Vorbis, and FLAC — none of those decode on Xvid-era hardware.

Will the Xvid file play in DivX-certified DVD players from a USB stick or burned DVD-R?

Yes — that's the whole point of the certification. Format the USB as FAT32 (most old players don't read exFAT or NTFS), drop the converted .avi files into the root, and certified players index and play them. For DVD-R, burn as a data disc (UDF or ISO9660), not a Video DVD. Keep filenames under 64 characters and stick to ASCII for old firmware. If a player rejects the file, try renaming .divx → .avi (some early firmware only scans for .avi).

Should the file extension be .avi or .divx?

Functionally identical — both contain MPEG-4 ASP video inside an AVI-style container. Most DivX/Xvid-certified hardware accepts both. .avi is safer for car head units and very old DVD players, since some early firmware only scans for .avi. Rename the output if your player ignores .divx files.

Will my browser have trouble playing the FLV in the first place?

Almost certainly. Adobe Flash Player was end-of-life on December 31, 2020, and Adobe began actively blocking Flash from running on January 12, 2021. Modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari) all dropped Flash plugin support in early 2021. To play the FLV before converting, use VLC or MPC-HC (both have native FLV decoders), or the standalone Flash Projector app for offline use. The Internet Archive also runs Flash via the Ruffle emulator for archival access.

Can I trim the FLV during conversion?

Yes. Use the trim section to enter a start time and duration. Both accept seconds (12.5) or HH:MM:SS.sss format (00:01:30.500). Trim out intros, advertising bumpers, recap segments, or buffering glitches common in old captured Flash streams before re-encoding to Xvid.

Can I batch-convert an entire folder of FLV files?

Yes — drop in a folder of FLV files and they convert sequentially on our servers. Each download is a separate .avi file. Set the codec, bitrate, and resolution once and run the whole folder. Useful for modernizing an archive of old YouTube downloads or Flash-era lecture recordings for a DivX-certified player.