WTV to HEVC Converter

How to Convert WTV to HEVC Online

1. Upload Your WTV File: Drag and drop, or click "+ Add Files" to pick recordings from \Users\Public\Recorded TV\. Batch is supported. DRM-flagged broadcasts (CGMS-A "Copy Never" / "Copy Once") will not decode outside the original Media Center PC — uploads of those files fail at the demux step.
2. Pick Preset (Quality Preset): Default is Very High (Recommended), which maps to a CRF around 22 — close to visually lossless for the H.265 Main profile. Drop to High or Medium for smaller files, or switch File Compression to Constant Quality and set CRF (0-51 range; lower = better) for precise control. Constant Bitrate and Variable Bitrate are available when you need to hit a target Mbps for streaming.
3. Set Video Resolution and Trim (Optional): Under Video resolution choose Keep original, a Preset Resolution (720p, 1080p, 1440p, 2160p), Resolution Percentage, or enter custom Width x Height. Use Trim → Time Range to drop commercials or split a 2-hour recording into segments before re-encode.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert. WTV is MPEG-2, so a full re-encode runs — no stream copy is possible. The output is a raw .hevc elementary stream (Annex B byte stream, ITU-T H.265). 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 WTV to HEVC?

WTV is the Windows Recorded TV Show container introduced with Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008 and standard in Windows 7 Media Center. It wraps MPEG-2 video and MPEG-1 Layer II or Dolby AC-3 audio, plus EPG metadata and CGMS-A copy flags. Microsoft discontinued Windows Media Center in Windows 10 (May 2015 announcement; the Windows 10 upgrade removes WMC), so WTV recordings now live as orphan files. HEVC (H.265) — ratified January 2013, ISO/IEC 23008-2 — typically halves the bitrate of MPEG-2 for equivalent perceptual quality, making it the obvious archive target.

• Archive a 5-hour football game without filling a drive — A 1080i MPEG-2 WTV at ~15 Mbps consumes ~33 GB for five hours. Re-encoded to HEVC at CRF 22, the same recording typically lands at 8-12 GB at high-quality settings, visually near-identical for most broadcast content.
• Play recordings on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV — Native HEVC hardware decode shipped with the Apple A9 chip (iPhone 6s, 2015) and is universal across modern iPhones, iPads, Apple TV 4K, and macOS 10.13+. WTV won't open on any Apple device; HEVC plays everywhere.
• Stream over Plex, Jellyfin, or Emby without transcoding — Plex servers transcode MPEG-2 on every play (CPU-heavy); HEVC direct-plays on every client that supports H.265, which today is virtually all 4K TVs, the Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and Roku Ultra.
• Cut DVR cruft before keeping a recording — Use Trim → Time Range to drop pre-roll, commercials, and post-game wrap before the encode runs. The re-encode is unavoidable, so paying once for a clean output saves storage forever.
• Move off Windows entirely — WTV is a Microsoft proprietary format with no native support on macOS, Linux, ChromeOS, iOS, or Android. HEVC plays natively on all of them (Android 5.0+, Linux via VLC/mpv).
• Edit in Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, or Final Cut — Most NLEs refuse WTV outright; HEVC import is standard in DaVinci Resolve 16+, Premiere Pro CC, and Final Cut Pro 10.4+.

WTV vs HEVC — Format Comparison

H.265 Quality Preset Quick Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does WTV need a full re-encode instead of a stream copy?

WTV stores MPEG-2 (sometimes MPEG-4 ASP) video. HEVC is a completely different codec — there is no way to remux MPEG-2 frames into an H.265 bitstream. Every frame has to be decoded, then re-encoded by an HEVC encoder. Expect roughly real-time-to-2x conversion speed on modern CPUs; longer recordings take longer.

My WTV file fails to upload or process — what happened?

The most likely cause is CGMS-A copy protection. Windows Media Center honored the broadcaster's CGMS-A flag and encrypted "Copy Once" / "Copy Never" recordings so they only play back on the recording PC's Windows install. No converter — online or desktop — can lawfully decrypt those. Unencrypted recordings (most over-the-air ATSC broadcasts in the US flag content as "Copy Freely") convert fine.

Is .hevc a real format? Can my media player open it?

Yes — .hevc is the H.265 Annex B raw byte stream: NAL units delimited by 0x00000001 start codes, with no container, no audio, and no timestamps. VLC 3.0+, mpv, ffplay, and YUView open .hevc files directly. For broader compatibility — TV apps, web browsers, AirPlay, smart TVs — remux the .hevc into MP4 or MKV; see HEVC to MP4 for the wrapper step.

Will my audio survive the conversion?

Raw .hevc is video-only. The MPEG-1 Layer II or AC-3 audio in your WTV recording is dropped because the Annex B elementary stream has no place to carry it. If you need audio, convert WTV to a container instead: WTV to MP4 or WTV to MKV keep video + audio + subtitles in one playable file.

Should I pick CRF, Constant Bitrate, or Variable Bitrate?

CRF (Constant Quality) is the right default for archival — the encoder spends bits where the picture needs them and saves bits in static scenes. Use CBR only when you have a hard bandwidth ceiling (e.g., a fixed 5 Mbps streaming slot). VBR with a target bitrate is a middle ground for size-predictable encodes. For DVR archive, CRF 22 (Very High) is the recommended setting.

What devices play HEVC natively?

HEVC hardware decode is standard on: Apple A9 and later (iPhone 6s, 2015 onward, all iPads, Apple TV 4K), Intel Skylake (6th gen, 2015) and later integrated graphics, NVIDIA Maxwell GM206 (GTX 960, 2015) and later GPUs, AMD GCN 1.2+ and all RDNA GPUs, every 4K-capable Samsung/LG/Sony TV from 2015 onward, Xbox One S/X, Xbox Series X/S, PS4 Pro, PS5, Roku Ultra, and Fire TV 4K. Android 5.0+ supports HEVC playback (hardware varies by chipset).

How much smaller will my file get?

For 1080i/1080p MPEG-2 source at ATSC broadcast bitrates (12-20 Mbps), expect HEVC at CRF 22 to land in the 4-8 Mbps range — roughly 50-65% smaller while remaining visually indistinguishable from the source. The published HEVC efficiency figure vs H.264 is 25-50% bitrate savings; vs the older MPEG-2 codec in WTV, savings are larger because MPEG-2 is far less efficient than H.264.

Why not just convert MPEG-2 (extracted from WTV) directly?

You can, and the result is identical to the WTV → HEVC path. If you already have a .m2v or .mpg extracted, use MPEG2 to HEVC. The WTV-to-HEVC path runs the WTV demux and the MPEG-2 → HEVC re-encode in a single pass instead of two manual steps.

Can I make the HEVC output even smaller after conversion?

Yes — re-encode at a higher CRF, or run Compress HEVC on the output with a target file size. Going below CRF 28 starts to show motion artifacts on a 1080p source; for archive purposes CRF 22-24 is the practical sweet spot between quality and size.