ICO to WTV Converter
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Supports: ICO
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Need help?ICO to WTV Converter
ICO is a Windows icon container — one file that bundles several small bitmaps, at most 256×256 pixels each. WTV is the Windows Media Center recorded-TV container, so this is a still-image-to-video conversion: a single icon frame becomes a short, silent video clip with no audio track. It is a niche, legacy-target conversion, and for most people ICO to MP4 or ICO to PNG is the better choice — see the FAQ below for why.
ICO Format at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Full name | Windows Icon (container) |
| Developer | Microsoft |
| Introduced | Windows 1.0, 1985 |
| Structure | One file holding multiple images at different sizes |
| Max image size | 256×256 pixels per image |
| Color depth | 4-, 8-, 24-, and 32-bit (32-bit adds an alpha channel) |
| Compression | Raw bitmaps; PNG-compressed entries allowed since Windows Vista |
| Best for | App and folder icons, favicons, cursors |
WTV Format at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Full name | Windows Recorded TV Show |
| Developer | Microsoft |
| Introduced | Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008 (Windows Vista), then Windows 7 |
| Container payload | Video in MPEG-2 / MPEG-4; audio in MPEG-1 Layer II or Dolby Digital AC-3 |
| Predecessor | DVR-MS (Windows XP Media Center Edition) |
| Last bundled in | Windows 8.1 (paid Media Center add-on) |
| Status | Discontinued — Microsoft announced in May 2015 that Windows Media Center would not ship with Windows 10 and is removed on upgrade |
| Best for | Recorded TV inside Windows Media Center on Windows 7/8.1 (legacy) |
How to Convert ICO to WTV
- Upload Your ICO File: Drag and drop your icon onto the page or click "Add Files." You can queue several ICO files at once.
- Set Image Duration: Under Advanced Options, use the Duration dropdown to choose how many seconds the icon is shown (default is 5 seconds per frame) — this sets the clip length.
- Pick Background Color and Resolution: Choose a Background Color (default White) to fill the area around the small icon, then set Video resolution to keep the source size or upscale to a Fixed Resolution. The output is encoded with H.264 video at the Very High quality preset.
- Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and download your WTV file. No sign-up, no watermark. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the WTV file have any sound?
No. The source is a static icon with no audio, so the conversion produces a silent video — the audio track is omitted entirely. WTV can carry MPEG-1 Layer II or AC-3 audio, but there is nothing to encode from a still image.
Why is the output video so small or blurry?
An ICO image is at most 256×256 pixels, so the picture detail is fixed by the icon. If you leave the resolution at the source size, the video stays small; if you upscale to a Fixed Resolution like 1080p, the converter stretches those few pixels to fill the frame, which looks soft. Upscaling cannot add detail that the icon never contained.
Can I still play a WTV file today?
Rarely. WTV was built for Windows Media Center, which Microsoft discontinued — it was last bundled with Windows 8.1 and is removed when you upgrade to Windows 10. With Media Center gone, almost no current player opens WTV natively, which is the main reason it is a poor target in 2026.
Should I convert my ICO to WTV at all?
Usually not. WTV only makes sense if you specifically need a clip inside an old Windows Media Center setup. If you want a video that plays anywhere, convert ICO to MP4 instead — MP4 with H.264 is supported across modern browsers, phones, and TVs. If you only need a viewable picture, ICO to PNG keeps the transparency without making a video at all.
What codecs does this conversion write into the WTV container?
The video is encoded with H.264 by default and wrapped in the WTV container. Native Media Center recordings typically used MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 video with MP2 or AC-3 audio; our pipeline produces a standards-compliant WTV file, but since it starts from a single still image there is no audio stream to include.
Will the icon's transparency be kept?
No. Video frames are fully opaque, so any transparent areas in a 32-bit ICO are filled with the Background Color you pick (default White) rather than staying see-through. If preserving the alpha channel matters, convert to PNG instead, which keeps transparency intact.
Which image inside my ICO becomes the video frame?
An ICO is a container that can bundle several bitmaps at different sizes — commonly 16×16, 32×32, 48×48, and up to 256×256 pixels. The conversion decodes the first entry in the file as the source frame — often the smallest size, not the largest — so a multi-size icon can come out 16×16. A single-size 256×256 ICO gives the sharpest result, while a file whose first entry is a tiny 16×16 icon will look soft once it is shown at video size.
You cannot choose a specific embedded size in this tool — the largest is selected automatically — so a source .ico that was exported at 256×256 produces the cleanest clip.
How is WTV different from the older DVR-MS format?
DVR-MS (.dvr-ms) was the recorded-TV container used by Windows XP Media Center Edition; WTV replaced it starting with the Windows Media Center TV Pack for Vista and continued through Windows 7 and 8.1. WTV added support for HD broadcasts and richer program-guide metadata, but both are Media Center formats — and because Media Center itself is discontinued, neither is a good general-purpose target today.