Convert MPEG to WMV — Free Online Converter

WMV (Windows Media Video), part of Microsoft's Windows Media framework launched in 1999, uses the WMV9/VC-1 codec (later standardized as SMPTE 421M) for video compression. MPEG files use the older MPEG-1/2 video codecs. Converting MPEG to WMV produces video natively supported by Windows Media Player, PowerPoint, and the broader Microsoft ecosystem without additional codec installation.

WMV is deeply integrated into Microsoft's software stack. PowerPoint presentations embed WMV video more reliably than any other format. Windows Media Player handles WMV with full feature support including DRM, bookmarks, and script commands. Corporate environments running Microsoft infrastructure — SharePoint, Teams (legacy), Windows Media Server — often standardize on WMV for internal video distribution.

WMV9/VC-1 also provides significantly better compression than MPEG-2 at equivalent quality levels, roughly matching early H.264 Baseline implementations. Converting MPEG-2 broadcast recordings to WMV can reduce file sizes by 40-60% while maintaining the same visual quality, all within a format that every Windows PC plays natively.