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Need help?How to Re-encode WTV to WTV Online
- Upload Your WTV File: Drag and drop or click "+ Add Files" to load one or more
.wtvrecordings from Windows Media Center. 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. - Pick a Quality Preset or Bitrate Mode: The default Quality Preset is Very High (Recommended). Switch to Constant Bitrate or Variable Bitrate for predictable file size, Constant Quality (CRF-style) for visually transparent re-encodes, or Specific file size to hit an exact target in MB. Use File Compression when you just want a smaller
.wtvwithout changing resolution. - Resize, Trim, or Cap the Output (Optional): Under Video resolution, choose Keep original, pick a Preset Resolution (4320p down to 144p), enter a Width or Height with locked aspect ratio, or set Width x Height directly. Resolution Percentage scales by a ratio. Trim defaults to Unchanged; pick Time Range to cut a start/duration window so you only re-encode the segment you care about.
- Convert and Download: Click Convert. Each file is re-encoded on our servers — no sign-up, no watermark, no upload to a third party. The output is a fresh
.wtvthat plays in Windows Media Center, VLC, or any player with an MPEG-2 + MP2/AC3 codec stack.
Why Re-encode WTV to WTV?
The .wtv container was introduced with the TV Pack 2008 for Windows Vista Media Center and remained Windows Media Center's default recording format through Windows 7 and the Windows 8/8.1 Pro Media Center Pack. Microsoft announced in May 2015 that Media Center would not ship with Windows 10, the paid Media Center Pack stopped being sold on October 30, 2015, and the Electronic Program Guide service shut down on January 14, 2020 — but years of WTV recordings still sit on archive drives. A WTV-to-WTV pass keeps the original container so existing libraries, naming conventions, and any tooling that filters by extension keep working, while letting you fix what's actually wrong inside the file.
- Shrink recordings without changing the container — a one-hour HD broadcast WTV often runs 6-8 GB at the ~15 Mbps the broadcaster sent. Re-encoding to a 4-5 Mbps CRF stream typically cuts that 50-70% with no visible loss on TV content, and the file is still a
.wtv. - Repair "stutter on seek" recordings — DTV transport streams pulled in through a tuner card often have dropped packets that show up as stutters when you scrub. A clean re-encode rewrites the index and PTS timestamps so playback and seeking become smooth.
- Normalize variable-bitrate captures — some channels burst between 2 and 19 Mbps depending on scene complexity. Re-encoding at Constant Bitrate produces a flat-rate file that streams predictably over a home NAS or older media server.
- Crop commercials and intros — use Trim → Time Range to keep only the show body. The output is a single contiguous WTV instead of a 90-minute file with three commercial breaks you have to skip manually.
- Strip MP2 audio and re-encode to AC-3 sync points — if your home theater receiver decodes AC-3 cleanly but stutters on MPEG-1 Layer II, a re-encode that targets AC-3 audio fixes the playback hitch without leaving the WTV container.
- Replace a corrupted index — files that refuse to fast-forward in Windows Media Center, or that crash VLC mid-playback, usually have a broken stream index rather than truly damaged frames. A re-encode emits a fresh index that most players accept on the first try.
WTV Format Quick Reference
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Container | .wtv (Microsoft proprietary, MPEG-2 PS / TS hybrid) |
| Introduced | TV Pack 2008 for Windows Vista Media Center |
| Replaced | DVR-MS (older Media Center format) |
| Default video codec | MPEG-2 (broadcast passthrough) |
| Default audio codec | MPEG-1 Layer II or Dolby Digital AC-3 |
| Recording app | Windows Media Center (Vista TV Pack, 7, 8/8.1 Pro) |
| Media Center status | Not included in Windows 10; announced May 2015 |
| EPG service end | January 14, 2020 |
| Native playback | Windows Media Center, VLC, MPC-HC, PowerDVD |
| DRM | PlayReady (broadcast-flag channels and some pay-TV) |
| Metadata carried | Show title, episode, channel, EPG description, broadcast time |
Bitrate Mode and Preset Quick Guide
| Setting | When to use it | Typical result on a 1080i broadcast |
|---|---|---|
| Quality Preset: Very High (default) | "Just make it good" — best balance of size and quality | ~6-8 Mbps, near-source quality |
| Quality Preset: High | Slightly smaller archive copies | ~4-5 Mbps, fine for TV content |
| Quality Preset: Medium | NAS / phone-friendly archives | ~2-3 Mbps, watchable, soft on motion |
| Constant Bitrate | Predictable size, streaming over LAN | Whatever you set — flat across the file |
| Variable Bitrate | Best quality per MB, OK with variable bursts | Lower average, peaks on action scenes |
| Constant Quality (CRF) | Visually lossless re-mux, size varies | Often 30-50% smaller than source |
| Specific file size | Hit an exact MB / GB target | Output sized to ± a few percent |
| File Compression | Quick shrink, no other changes | Smaller .wtv, original resolution preserved |
Related WTV Tools on xconvert
If a same-container re-encode isn't what you actually need, switch to a different output: WTV to MP4 is the most portable target (plays on iOS, Android, smart TVs); WTV to MKV preserves multi-audio and subtitle tracks; WTV to TS gives you a raw MPEG-2 transport stream for editing. To cut WTV without re-encoding, use Trim WTV. To shrink a WTV with default settings, use Compress WTV.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why would I convert a WTV file to another WTV file?
Three common reasons: shrink the recording (broadcast WTVs are 5-8 GB per hour at source bitrate), fix a damaged stream index so seeking and fast-forward work, or trim out commercials. Keeping the .wtv extension means Windows Media Center, your existing playlists, and any library-management tool that filters by extension continue to recognize the file.
Can xconvert remove PlayReady DRM from a protected WTV recording?
No. PlayReady-protected WTV files store their decryption keys in the Windows PlayReady database tied to the specific machine that recorded them, not in the file itself. The xconvert pipeline can only re-encode the unencrypted bitstream a player would produce, so DRM-locked recordings (typically pay-TV channels and any channel that broadcast with the U.S. broadcast flag enabled) cannot be processed. Recordings from clear over-the-air ATSC channels are not DRM-protected and convert normally.
Will the show title, episode info, and broadcast timestamp survive the re-encode?
WTV carries descriptive metadata (show name, episode, channel, EPG synopsis, broadcast time) in container-level fields. A re-encode rewrites the container, so cosmetic metadata may be reset to file-name defaults. If you need the EPG fields preserved exactly, keep the original file as your archive copy and treat the re-encoded WTV as your playback copy.
My WTV plays but stutters when I seek — can a re-encode fix that?
Usually, yes. Stuttering on seek almost always means the stream index is broken or the original transport stream had dropped packets that confused the player's keyframe map. A full re-encode emits a fresh, sequential index and re-derives keyframes at a fixed cadence, which fixes scrubbing in Windows Media Center, VLC, and MPC-HC. If the source file is so corrupt that the demuxer can't read it at all, no re-encode will help — try VideoReDo TV Suite's "QuickStreamFix" first.
What's the difference between WTV and DVR-MS, and do I need to convert between them?
DVR-MS was Windows Media Center's recording format before WTV; it shipped with XP Media Center Edition and the original Vista Media Center. WTV (introduced in TV Pack 2008 for Vista) added better support for HD broadcasts, copy-protection signaling, and richer metadata. Windows Media Center could right-click convert WTV back to DVR-MS for compatibility with older tools. If you only need to play WTV today, almost every modern tool (VLC, MPC-HC, FFmpeg) reads it directly — no DVR-MS round-trip needed.
Should I pick Constant Bitrate, Variable Bitrate, or Constant Quality?
For archive copies you want to look as close to source as possible: Constant Quality — file size varies but every scene gets enough bits. For streaming over a home network where a flat data rate matters: Constant Bitrate. For "best quality per MB" with unpredictable file size: Variable Bitrate. The default Quality Preset (Very High) routes through a tuned CRF-style mode and is the right pick for ~80% of recordings.
Why does my one-hour broadcast WTV start out at 7 GB?
Over-the-air ATSC HD broadcasts ship at roughly 15-19 Mbps of MPEG-2 video plus AC-3 audio. One hour at 15 Mbps is about 6.75 GB before audio — so 7 GB per hour is typical, not a recording error. A WTV-to-WTV re-encode at the Medium preset (~2-3 Mbps) brings that to roughly 1-1.5 GB per hour, fine for TV content where the source isn't film-grain sensitive.
Will the re-encoded WTV still play in Windows Media Center on my old Windows 7 box?
Yes. The output uses the same MPEG-2 video + MP2/AC-3 audio combination Media Center expects, wrapped in a standard .wtv container. Note that Windows Media Center was not included in Windows 10 (announced May 2015), the paid Media Center Pack was withdrawn from sale on October 30, 2015, and the EPG service ended on January 14, 2020 — so on Windows 7/8.1 your existing Media Center install will play the file, but on Windows 10/11 you'll need VLC, MPC-HC, or another third-party player.
Are my recordings uploaded anywhere?
No. XConvert processes files on its servers and deletes them automatically after a few hours. For multi-gigabyte recordings that's particularly important: your file is uploaded only to run the conversion and isn't kept afterward.