MTS to WTV Converter

Convert MTS to WTV: Read This First

This converts an AVCHD camcorder clip (MTS) into WTV — Microsoft's Windows Recorded TV Show format. Before you start, know that WTV is a dead-end target for most people: it was built only for Windows Media Center, which Microsoft removed in Windows 10 in May 2015, so modern Windows cannot play a WTV without legacy decoders. If your goal is a file that just plays — on a phone, a smart TV, or any current PC — convert to MTS to MP4 instead, not WTV. WTV only makes sense if you are deliberately feeding an un-migrated Media Center HTPC still running on Windows 7 or 8.1.

How to Convert MTS to WTV

1. Upload Your MTS File: Drag and drop or click "+ Add Files" to select the .MTS clips from your camcorder's STREAM folder. Batch upload is supported — every file converts with the same settings.
2. Pick a Quality Preset: WTV output has no Video Codec or Audio Codec dropdown — the encoder is fixed server-side to what the container expects (MPEG-2 / H.264 video, AC-3 audio), so you control quality instead of codec. Leave the "Very High" Quality Preset for near-source fidelity, or under File Compression target a Specific file size, Constant Bitrate, or Variable Bitrate.
3. Set Resolution or Trim (Optional): Expand Advanced Options. Use Resolution Percentage or a Preset Resolution (1080p, 720p, 480p) — AVCHD is already 1920x1080 or 1280x720, so upscaling adds size, not detail. Use Trim with a Time Range to cut dead frames at the start or end of a clip before encoding.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically a few hours after conversion — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared.

Walk-through: What Happens to the Codec

MTS is an AVCHD stream — H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video with Dolby AC-3 or linear PCM audio, recorded by Sony/Panasonic HD camcorders since 2006 at up to 24 Mbit/s (28 Mbit/s for 1080p60 on AVCHD 2.0). WTV accepts MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 video with MP2 or AC-3 audio. Because the two containers do not share an identical codec profile, this is a re-encode, not a stream copy — every frame is decoded and re-compressed into the WTV wrapper.

Practical consequences of the re-encode:

• Quality is set once, going in. There is no codec choice to tune, so the Quality Preset and bitrate controls are your only levers. Very High keeps the most detail; dropping to High or Medium shrinks the file at visible cost.
• Re-encoding H.264 to the WTV pipeline can soften fine detail. A single generation of lossy re-compression is usually minor at Very High, but it is not lossless — if you may transcode again later, keep an MP4 master and treat the WTV as a disposable playback copy.
• Interlaced source stays interlaced. AVCHD 1080i (60i/50i) carries field-based frames; the converter preserves the field order rather than deinterlacing, which is what Media Center expects for a broadcast-style recording.

Common Errors and How to Fix Them

• "The WTV won't play on my Windows 10/11 PC" — Expected. Windows Media Center is gone from Windows 10+, so there is no built-in WTV decoder. Open it in VLC, Kodi, MPC-HC, or PotPlayer, or — better — convert to MP4 instead so you never hit this wall again.
• "Output file is larger than the MTS" — AVCHD's H.264 is more efficient than the MPEG-2 a WTV often carries, so the same quality costs more bits. Drop the Quality Preset to High or set a Specific file size to cap it.
• "There's no codec dropdown — I wanted MPEG-2" — Correct, and you don't need one. WTV's encoder is fixed; the container only accepts the codecs it was designed for, so the choice is made for you.
• "My camcorder split one recording into several MTS files" — AVCHD chunks long clips (often near the 2 GB FAT32 limit, e.g. 00000.MTS, 00001.MTS). Upload them together in order to join them into one continuous WTV.

When This Doesn't Work

If WTV is not actually what you need — and for most people in 2026 it is not — stop and pick a different target. Converting into WTV is unusual: the overwhelming traffic flows the other way, out of WTV, because people are trying to escape a discontinued format. If you arrived here by mistake and actually have a WTV you want to open elsewhere, you want WTV to MP4 instead. For a Windows-native file that plays in Windows Media Player without Media Center, MTS to WMV is a better fit than WTV. And copy-protected or DRM-locked recordings cannot be decoded here at all — that protection has to be removed at the source first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why would I ever convert MTS to WTV instead of MP4?

Only one real reason: you run an un-migrated Windows Media Center HTPC on Windows 7 or 8.1 and want your camcorder footage to live in the Recorded TV library next to your tuner captures. Media Center indexes WTV natively and gives it the full 10-foot UI treatment. For literally any other use — phone, smart TV, browser, a current Windows PC — MTS to MP4 is the correct choice. WTV exists for the Media Center workflow and almost nothing else.

Will the WTV file play on Windows 10 or Windows 11?

Not natively. Microsoft removed Windows Media Center when it shipped Windows 10 in May 2015, and the program-guide (EPG) service was shut down on January 14, 2020. A WTV will still open in VLC, Kodi, MPC-HC, or PotPlayer on Windows 10/11 if those players have MPEG-2/H.264 decoders, but there is no built-in Windows playback anymore. If forward compatibility matters, convert to MP4 instead.

Why is there no Video Codec or Audio Codec option for WTV output?

Because the WTV container only accepts a narrow set of codecs (MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 video, MP2 or AC-3 audio), the encoder is fixed server-side to a Media-Center-compatible combination. Exposing a codec dropdown would only let you pick something that fails to play in Media Center, so the choice is made for you. You still control fidelity through the Quality Preset and File Compression settings.

Does converting from H.264 MTS lose quality?

Some, because it is a re-encode rather than a stream copy. AVCHD stores H.264, and WTV does not carry that exact profile, so each frame is decoded and re-compressed. In our testing, a single pass at the Very High preset keeps the loss subtle and hard to spot at normal viewing distance, but it is not lossless. If you expect to convert the footage again later, keep the original MTS or an MP4 master and treat the WTV as a playback-only copy.

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

DVR-MS was the recorded-TV format in Windows XP Media Center Edition and was built on Microsoft's ASF container. WTV replaced it in July 2008 with the Windows Media Center TV Pack for Vista; unlike DVR-MS it does not use ASF, and it stores richer program metadata plus better support for protected cable recordings. If you have a mixed library, both formats live side by side in Windows 7 Media Center, and Microsoft's bundled WtvConverter.exe upgrades DVR-MS files to WTV.

How are my files handled, and how long do you keep them?

Files are uploaded over an encrypted (TLS) connection and processed on our servers — never in public view. There is no sign-up, no watermark, and your files are never shared or sold. Uploads and their converted outputs are deleted automatically a few hours after conversion. If you need to keep a copy, download it before that window passes.