WMV to AV1 Converter

How to Convert WMV to AV1 Online

1. Upload Your WMV Files: Drag and drop or click "Add Files" to select one or more .wmv files (any WMV/VC-1 generation, including legacy WMV 7/8 and WMV 9). Batch conversion is supported.
2. Pick Quality Preset and Compression Mode: Default Preset is "Very High (Recommended)" — choose Highest for archival masters, High or Medium for general re-encodes, Low/Very Low for storage triage. Or switch to Constant Quality (CRF), Constant Bitrate, Variable Bitrate, or set a Specific file size to hit a target in MB.
3. Resize and Trim (Optional): Use Preset Resolutions (4320p down to 144p), Resolution Percentage, or Width × Height for custom dimensions. Pick Time Range under Trim to extract a single segment by start + duration in seconds or HH:MM:SS.sss.
4. Convert and Download: 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. Switch the Audio Codec to AAC under Advanced if your downstream player needs it.

Why Convert WMV to AV1?

WMV is Microsoft's family of codecs that shipped in Windows Media 7 (1999) through WMV 9 (2003), with WMV 9 later standardized as SMPTE VC-1 in April 2006 and used on HD DVD and Blu-ray. Files are wrapped in the ASF container (.wmv / .asf). Outside the Windows + VLC ecosystem the format is awkward — no native browser playback, limited mobile support, and dwindling tooling on macOS and Linux. AV1, finalized by the Alliance for Open Media in March 2018, is the modern royalty-free replacement: roughly 50% smaller than H.264 and 30% smaller than HEVC at matched quality, and now supported on 93%+ of browsers.

• Modernize legacy archives — Camcorder footage, screen recordings from Windows XP/7-era Camtasia, and old Movie Maker exports are typically WMV. Re-encoding to AV1 cuts size 50–70% while keeping playback alive on every modern OS.
• Web and streaming delivery — YouTube, Netflix, Vimeo, and Twitch all serve AV1. WMV can't be uploaded directly to most CDNs without server-side transcoding; AV1 ships as-is.
• Cross-platform sharing — WMV won't play in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or on iOS/Android without third-party apps. AV1 plays natively in Chrome 70+, Firefox 67+, Edge 121+, and Safari 17+ (limited).
• Storage and bandwidth savings — A 4 GB 1080p WMV typically lands around 1.2–2 GB as AV1 at the same visual quality. Useful for NAS archives, cloud backups, and mobile sync.
• Future-proofing — Microsoft has deprecated Windows Movie Maker and Windows Media Player Legacy in favor of the new Media Player and Clipchamp, neither of which encourages WMV authoring. AV1 is the format the next decade is building on.

For other directions out of WMV, see WMV to MP4, WMV to MKV, and WMV to WebM. To shrink without changing format, use Compress WMV.

WMV vs AV1 — Format Comparison

Quality Preset and CRF Quick Guide

Lower CRF values mean better quality and bigger files. AV1 CRF runs roughly 4–6 points "tighter" than x264 CRF — an x264 CRF 23 result is closer to AV1 CRF 28–30.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is AV1 encoding slower than H.264 or HEVC?

AV1's compression gains come from a much larger toolset — more partition shapes, more prediction modes, and more transform options than HEVC. That extra search space costs CPU. On a typical 8-core desktop, expect 1080p AV1 software encoding to run several times slower than x264 at comparable quality. The trade-off is a 30–50% smaller file you only encode once but distribute many times.

Will my converted AV1 file play on Windows Media Player?

The new Windows 11 Media Player supports AV1 via the AV1 Video Extension (free from Microsoft Store on Windows 10/11). The legacy Windows Media Player that historically opened WMV does not. For broad playback, VLC 3.0+ plays AV1 on Windows, macOS, and Linux out of the box.

How much smaller will my WMV become as AV1?

At matched visual quality, AV1 is typically 50–70% smaller than WMV/VC-1. A 1 GB WMV usually ends up 300–500 MB as AV1 at default settings. Aggressive compression (Low preset or higher CRF) can push that further at the cost of detail in fast motion.

Should I keep audio as Opus or switch to AAC?

Opus (default) is open, royalty-free, and outperforms AAC at every bitrate from 32 kbps up — it's the best pairing for AV1. Pick AAC under Advanced only if your target player is older (some Smart TVs, in-car systems, AV receivers pre-2022) and chokes on Opus in MP4.

Which devices can hardware-decode AV1 in 2026?

Desktop GPUs: NVIDIA RTX 30 series and newer, AMD Radeon RX 6000 / RDNA 2 and newer, Intel Arc and Tiger Lake-era integrated GPUs (11th gen Core+). Mobile / SoC: Apple M3 and newer Macs and iPads, iPhone 15 Pro / A17 Pro and newer, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and newer Android devices. Without hardware decode, AV1 still plays — it just costs more CPU and battery.

Can I batch-convert a folder of old WMV files?

Yes. Drop multiple .wmv files in one go and they encode with the same Preset, Resolution, and Audio settings. files are processed on our servers and deleted automatically after a few hours and downloaded individually or as a ZIP. There's no fixed file-count cap.

Does converting touch the original WMV?

No. The original .wmv stays untouched on your disk. XConvert uploads your file over an encrypted connection, encodes it on our servers, and gives you a new AV1 file to download — your source archive is unchanged.

My WMV won't decode — what's wrong?

Some very old WMV files use WMV Screen (MSS1/MSS2) or DRM-protected WMV from PlaysForSure-era stores. Screen-codec WMV is rare and may need manual setup; DRM-protected WMV cannot be transcoded by any tool — the rights expired with the Microsoft licensing servers. Standard WMV 7/8/9 and VC-1 files work normally.

Should I output to MP4 or MKV with AV1 inside?

MP4 is the most universally accepted container for AV1 (YouTube, Netflix, browsers, mobile). MKV is preferable when you need multiple audio tracks, chapter markers, or attached subtitles. WebM is fine for direct browser embedding. XConvert defaults to MP4 with AV1 + Opus, which works for the vast majority of cases.