WTV to MPEG-2 Converter

How to Convert WTV to MPEG-2 Online

1. Upload Your WTV File: Drag and drop or click "Add Files" to select Windows Media Center recordings (.wtv) from your Recorded TV folder (default C:\Users\Public\Recorded TV on Windows 7 Media Center). Batch is supported — drop in an entire season of recordings and each file is processed in parallel.
2. Pick Quality Preset or Bitrate Mode: Default is the Very High (Recommended) Quality Preset, which targets DVD-Video-grade MPEG-2 output around 6-8 Mbps. Switch to Specific file size to cap output at an exact MB value (handy for 4.7 GB DVD-5 or 8.5 GB DVD-9 budgets), Constant Bitrate for predictable broadcast-style streams, Variable Bitrate for smaller files at the same average quality, or Constant Quality / Constraint Quality to fine-tune with a qscale slider (1 = highest, 31 = lowest for MPEG-2).
3. Resize or Trim if Needed (Optional): Under Video resolution, keep original or pick a Preset Resolution (1080p, 720p, 576p PAL, 480p NTSC, 360p, 240p), scale by Resolution Percentage, or enter custom Width × Height. Under Trim, choose Time Range and enter start time and duration in seconds or HH:MM:SS.sss format to strip commercials, station IDs, or pre/post-roll.
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. Download each output individually or as a ZIP.

Why Convert WTV to MPEG-2?

WTV (Windows Recorded TV Show) is the recording container Microsoft introduced with the Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008 for Windows Vista, then carried into Windows 7. It replaced the older DVR-MS format and — contrary to common confusion — does not use ASF as the underlying container (DVR-MS does; WTV uses a Microsoft-proprietary structure). WTV typically wraps MPEG-2 video plus MPEG-1 Layer II or Dolby Digital AC-3 audio for SD broadcasts, or H.264 for HD ATSC recordings. MPEG-2 (ISO/IEC 13818-2, also published as ITU-T H.262) is the elementary-stream video standard behind DVD-Video, ATSC over-the-air broadcasting, and DVB satellite/cable. Common reasons to convert:

• DVD authoring — DVD-Video requires MPEG-2 video at up to 9.8 Mbit/s peak (10.08 Mbit/s total with audio). Outputting clean.mpeg2 elementary streams or.mpg program streams is the right first step before feeding DVDStyler, ImgBurn, or Nero to burn a playable DVD-5 (4.7 GB) or DVD-9 (8.5 GB) disc.
• Universal playback off the Windows ecosystem — WTV files only open in Windows Media Center, the Windows 10/11 Films & TV app (with codecs), or a few third-party players. MPEG-2 plays in VLC, MPV, QuickTime (with codec), every DVD player, and most smart TVs and media boxes.
• Editing in non-Microsoft tools — Premiere, Resolve, Vegas, Avid, and FFmpeg all accept MPEG-2 cleanly. WTV is awkward — many NLEs require you to remux to DVR-MS or transcode first.
• Archival of broadcast TV — MPEG-2 has been standardized since 1996 and is the codec inside every commercial DVD and most ATSC recordings; readers and decoders will exist for decades.
• Removing DRM-free OTA copy protection metadata — WTV recordings of broadcast-flag-free over-the-air channels carry timestamps and tuner metadata that some NLEs reject. Transcoding to MPEG-2.mpg or.mpeg2 strips the Windows-specific headers.
• Stream copy when the source is already MPEG-2 — When your WTV came from an SD ATSC or DVB tuner (MPEG-2 video + MPEG-1 Layer II audio), the conversion is largely a remux: the same operation FFmpeg performs with -c:v copy -c:a copy. No re-encoding, no quality loss. HD ATSC recordings that wrap H.264 do require a transcode.

WTV vs MPEG-2 — Container and Codec Reference

Quality and Bitrate Mode Quick Guide

MPEG-2 Bitrate Cheat Sheet for Common Targets

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I lose quality converting WTV to MPEG-2?

If your WTV source already contains MPEG-2 video (true for SD ATSC, DVB, and most analogue-tuner recordings on Windows Media Center), the conversion is essentially a remux — the elementary MPEG-2 video stream and AC-3 or MP2 audio stream move into the new container with no re-encoding and zero quality loss. This is the same operation FFmpeg performs with -c:v copy -c:a copy. If your WTV holds H.264 video (HD ATSC tuner recordings), MPEG-2 output requires a transcode; pick Very High preset or qscale 2-3 to stay visually transparent.

How do I find my WTV files on Windows?

Windows Media Center's default save location is C:\Users\Public\Recorded TV (Windows 7) or C:\Users\Public\Public Recorded TV. You can change the path inside Media Center under Tasks → Settings → TV → Recorder → Recorder Storage. Files have the.wtv extension and a "Windows Recorded TV Show" type in Explorer. Drop them directly onto this tool — no need to convert through Microsoft's WTVconverter.exe first.

Why does my WTV file fail to import into Premiere, Resolve, or Vegas?

Most NLEs don't ship a WTV demuxer. Premiere and Resolve in particular treat WTV as an unsupported container even when the inner MPEG-2 stream is standard. Converting to MPEG-2 (.mpg program stream or.mpeg2 elementary stream) gives the NLE a format it understands directly, and on MPEG-2 sources the conversion is lossless because it's a container swap rather than a re-encode.

Can I burn the output directly to a DVD-Video disc?

The MPEG-2 elementary stream we produce is DVD-compliant when you stay under 9.8 Mbit/s video / 10.08 Mbit/s total bitrate at 720×480 (NTSC) or 720×576 (PAL). To burn a playable DVD you still need an authoring tool — DVDStyler (free, cross-platform), ImgBurn (Windows, free), or Nero — that builds the VIDEO_TS folder structure with IFO/BUP files. The Specific file size mode is useful for sizing 2 hours of video to fit a 4.7 GB DVD-5 budget.

What's the difference between.mpeg2,.mpg, and.m2v?

.mpeg2 and .m2v are extensions for raw MPEG-2 video elementary streams — video only, no audio multiplexed in. .mpg (and .mpeg) typically denote MPEG-1/MPEG-2 program streams that wrap both video and audio (and optionally subtitles) into a single file ready for playback or DVD authoring. If you need video+audio playback in one file, see WTV to MPG or WTV to MPEG. Pick.mpeg2 here when you need video-only for NLE ingest or muxing later.

Can I trim commercials and ads before converting?

Yes. Use the Trim section, pick Time Range, and enter start time + duration. Both accept seconds (135.5) or HH:MM:SS.sss format (00:02:15.500). For multi-cut commercial removal across one file (typical for TV recordings), use Trim WTV first to produce a clean source, then convert to MPEG-2 — that keeps the heavy bitrate budget for the program content rather than ads you'll strip anyway.

Why is my HD ATSC WTV recording so much larger after converting?

HD ATSC tuner recordings typically use H.264 video at 8-15 Mbit/s. Re-encoding to MPEG-2 at visually similar quality usually needs 12-20 Mbit/s because MPEG-2 is a 1996-era codec with weaker compression — roughly 2× the bitrate for equivalent perceived quality. If size matters more than format compliance, consider WTV to MP4 (keeps H.264 stream-copy, much smaller files) instead of MPEG-2 unless you specifically need DVD/broadcast compatibility.

Does WTV use ASF like Windows Media Video?

No — this is a common confusion. The older DVR-MS format (Windows XP Media Center) does use ASF as its container. WTV (Windows 7 / Vista Media Center TV Pack 2008 onward) replaced DVR-MS with a different Microsoft-proprietary structure and does not use ASF. WMV uses ASF and the WMV codec, but that's a separate format from WTV.

Can I convert MPEG-2 back to WTV?

Yes — see MPEG-2 to WTV for the reverse direction (useful for re-importing edited recordings back into Windows Media Center). If you only want to shrink a WTV recording without changing format, use Compress WTV.