MP4 to WTV Converter

How to Convert MP4 to WTV Online

1. Upload Your MP4 Files: Drag and drop or click "Add Files" to select one or more MP4 or M4V files. Batch conversion is supported.
2. Pick a Quality Preset: Default is Very High (Recommended). Drop to High or Medium for smaller archives, or step up to Highest when you want the WTV to match a high-bitrate source. You can also switch to Constant Bitrate, Variable Bitrate, Constant Quality, or Specific file size and target a value directly.
3. Set Resolution and Trim (Optional): Pick a Preset Resolution from 4320p down to 144p, scale by Resolution Percentage, or enter Width x Height. Use Trim with a start time and duration in seconds or HH:MM:SS.sss to extract one segment instead of converting the whole file.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert. Files are processed in your browser session — no sign-up, no watermark, and your MP4 never leaves your device unless we re-encode it server-side for that conversion.

The video codec defaults to H.264 and audio to AAC inside the WTV container; both can be swapped to MPEG-2 video and AC-3 audio under Advanced Options if you want output that matches what Windows Media Center natively records.

Why Convert MP4 to WTV?

WTV (Windows Recorded TV Show) is a proprietary container Microsoft introduced with the Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008 (codenamed "Fiji") for Windows Vista, replacing the older DVR-MS format. It became the standard recording format in all Windows 7 Media Center editions. Even though Microsoft removed Media Center from Windows 10 in 2015, plenty of HTPC owners still keep a Windows 7 or 8.1 box around as a DVR — and converting MP4 to WTV is the way to file new content into those libraries.

• Add personal video to a Windows Media Center library — Drop home movies, downloaded webinars, or YouTube rips next to your recorded TV so they all surface in the WMC "Recorded TV" tile.
• Match the format of existing recordings — WMC writes WTV by default to \Users\Public\Recorded TV\. Keeping new content in WTV keeps thumbnails, sort order, and the 10-foot UI consistent.
• Legacy HTPC and Ceton/HDHomeRun setups — Tuner cards from Ceton and SiliconDust paired with WMC produce WTV. If a third-party app or playlist tool only browses WTV, your MP4 has to match.
• DVR-MS migration paths — Some workflows expect WTV as the modern format, then use Windows 7's built-in \Windows\ehome\WTVConverter.exe to downgrade WTV to DVR-MS for legacy editors. MP4 to WTV gets you onto that on-ramp.
• Archive in a single container — If your existing recorded TV archive is WTV, converting recent MP4s keeps the archive homogeneous, which simplifies bulk re-encoding or eventual migration off WMC.

MP4 vs WTV — Format Comparison

WTV vs DVR-MS — Which Recorded-TV Format Do You Need?

If you have an older app or editor that only reads DVR-MS, convert MP4 to WTV here, then run Windows 7's built-in \Windows\ehome\WTVConverter.exe to step down to DVR-MS. Going the other direction (DVR-MS to WTV) was never supported by Microsoft.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between WTV and DVR-MS?

Both are Microsoft DVR formats, but DVR-MS (2004, Windows XP MCE) is built on the ASF container with MPEG-2 video and MPEG-1 Layer II or AC-3 audio. WTV (2008, Vista TV Pack and the default in Windows 7 Media Center) uses a different container — explicitly not ASF — and stores MPEG-2, MPEG-4, or H.264 video with the same audio codec choices. Per Microsoft's own Working with WTV Files page, Windows 7 ships a WTV-to-DVR-MS converter (\Windows\ehome\WTVConverter.exe) but no conversion the other way.

Can I play WTV files outside Windows Media Center?

Yes, with the right player. VLC plays WTV on Windows, macOS, and Linux. MPC-HC and Windows Media Player on Windows 7 and later can also open them. What VLC and the others can't do is decode WTV files that were tagged with copy protection — Microsoft's Working with WTV Files note confirms that protected content "is restricted to the Windows Media Center PC used to record the content." That copy-protection flag (CGMS-A) is set by the broadcaster, not by the converter.

Will the WTV file my converter produces include TV guide metadata?

No. WTV's extended metadata (channel, program title, episode description, original air date, parental rating) is written by Windows Media Center's recording pipeline when it pulls in EPG data from your tuner. A file converted from MP4 carries only generic title and duration fields — it will play in Media Center and live next to recorded TV, but it won't show a synopsis or guide row.

Should I pick H.264 or MPEG-2 for the WTV output?

H.264 (the default here) gives roughly half the bitrate of MPEG-2 for the same visible quality, so files are smaller. Pick MPEG-2 only if you specifically need the WTV to match what Microsoft's Stream Buffer Engine writes natively (useful when a third-party tool expects MPEG-2 elementary streams). For most home archives and HTPC libraries, H.264 + AC-3 is the right combination.

Does this accept M4V files too?

Yes. M4V is Apple's variant of the MPEG-4 container — the bytes inside are essentially the same as MP4, just with a different extension and (sometimes) FairPlay DRM. Unprotected M4V files convert without issue. DRM-protected iTunes purchases will not, because we cannot read the encrypted streams.

Why is my converted WTV larger than the original MP4?

Two reasons. First, if the source MP4 used H.265/HEVC (modern iPhones default to HEVC since 2017) and you let the converter fall back to H.264 for WTV, expect roughly a 30-50% size increase at the same quality. Second, a "Highest" or "Very High" preset re-encodes at a higher bitrate than your source needed. Drop the Quality Preset to High or Medium, or use the Specific file size option to cap output. Need it smaller still? Run Compress MP4 on the source first.

Can I convert WTV back to MP4?

Yes — that's the more common direction once Windows Media Center is no longer in your daily life. Use Convert WTV to MP4 to pull recordings out of the WMC silo and into a format that plays everywhere. If you need the older MS DVR format instead, Convert MP4 to WMV handles Microsoft's general-purpose video container.

Is Windows Media Center still around in 2026?

Microsoft removed Media Center from Windows in May 2015 with the Windows 10 launch — it was the last bundled Microsoft DVR product. There's no first-party replacement. Plenty of HTPC users still run Windows 7 or 8.1 boxes with WMC plus a Ceton InfiniTV or HDHomeRun tuner for cable/OTA recording, and unofficial installers exist to bring WMC to Windows 10/11 (community-maintained, unsupported by Microsoft). WTV files themselves remain readable in VLC indefinitely regardless of the OS.

Will trimming during conversion lose quality?

A small amount, yes. The trim feature re-encodes the kept segment, so any lossy-to-lossy hop drops some quality. If you want a lossless cut and the source is already H.264, do the trim before conversion using a stream-copy tool like ffmpeg's -c copy, then run MP4 to WTV on the trimmed file. For a one-pass workflow on this page, leave Quality Preset at Very High to keep the loss minimal.