Convert WTV to 3GP — Free Online Converter
Convert Windows TV (.wtv) to 3GPP Multimedia (.3gp) online for free. Fast, secure video conversion with no watermarks or registration....
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How to Convert
Upload your .wtv file by dragging it into the upload area or clicking to browse.
Choose your output settings. The default settings work great for most files.
Click Convert and download your .3gp file when it's ready.
About WTV to 3GP Conversion
WTV (Windows TV) is Microsoft's DVR recording format introduced with Windows Media Center in Windows Vista (2007), replacing the older DVR-MS format. WTV files contain MPEG-2 or H.264 video with AC3 or AAC audio, plus rich EPG metadata including program title, description, channel name, recording time, and content ratings. The format uses an NTFS-like internal structure with multiple multiplexed streams. 3GP is the 3GPP mobile multimedia container designed for feature phones and low-bandwidth cellular networks.
Since Windows Media Center was discontinued after Windows 10 — Microsoft removed it entirely — WTV is a legacy format with no active software creating new files. However, millions of recorded TV files still exist in personal archives from the Windows Media Center era, spanning nearly a decade of home TV recording.
Why Convert WTV to 3GP?
WTV files are effectively unplayable outside of Windows, and even on modern Windows 10/11 systems, native WTV support has been removed along with Windows Media Center. Most media players, mobile devices, and streaming platforms cannot open WTV files at all, leaving years of recorded television trapped in an obsolete format.
Converting WTV to 3GP makes TV recordings accessible on the most basic mobile devices and feature phones. While 3GP is a heavily compressed format, it enables sharing short clips from recorded TV shows via MMS or viewing highlights on budget hardware where bandwidth and storage are limited.
Common Use Cases
- Extracting short clips from Windows Media Center TV recordings to share via MMS on feature phones
- Creating mobile-friendly versions of recorded TV shows for viewing on budget devices in low-bandwidth areas
- Migrating cherished TV recordings from a defunct Windows Media Center PC before hardware failure
- Consolidating a media library by converting WTV archives into a universally portable mobile format
- Reclaiming disk space by compressing multi-gigabyte WTV recordings into lightweight 3GP clips
How It Works
FFmpeg demuxes the WTV container, extracting the MPEG-2 or H.264 video stream and the AC3 or AAC audio track. The video is re-encoded to H.263 or MPEG-4 Simple Profile at QCIF (176x144) or CIF (352x288) resolution. Audio is decoded and re-encoded to AMR-NB at 8 kHz mono. EPG metadata (program title, channel, recording time, ratings) is discarded since 3GP has no equivalent metadata fields. For interlaced 1080i WTV sources, the yadif deinterlace filter is applied before downscaling.
Quality & Performance
WTV recordings are typically standard definition (480i NTSC or 576i PAL for over-the-air MPEG-2) or high definition (720p or 1080i for cable/satellite H.264). Files range from 1 to 8 GB per hour depending on source quality. Converting to 3GP dramatically reduces resolution and bitrate — a 4 GB one-hour HD recording may compress to 10-30 MB. The result is watchable on small mobile screens but loses all fine detail. Interlaced 1080i content requires deinterlacing before the resolution downscale.
Device Compatibility
| Device | WTV | 3GP |
|---|---|---|
| Windows PC | Partial | Partial |
| macOS | Partial | Partial |
| iPhone/iPad | Partial | Partial |
| Android | Partial | Native |
| Linux | Partial | Partial |
| Web Browser | No | No |
Recommended Settings by Platform
YouTube
Resolution: 1920x1080
Bitrate: 8-12 Mbps
H.264 recommended for fast processing
Resolution: 1080x1080
Bitrate: 3.5 Mbps
Square or 9:16 for Reels
TikTok
Resolution: 1080x1920
Bitrate: 4 Mbps
9:16 vertical, under 60s ideal
Twitter/X
Resolution: 1280x720
Bitrate: 5 Mbps
Under 140s, 512MB max
Resolution: 960x540
Bitrate: 2 Mbps
16MB limit for standard, 64MB for document
Discord
Resolution: 1280x720
Bitrate: 4 Mbps
8MB free, 50MB Nitro
Tips for Best Results
- 1Apply the yadif deinterlace filter for 1080i WTV sources to prevent combing artifacts in the progressive 3GP output
- 2Trim to specific timestamps to extract just the program content, skipping commercial breaks that WTV recordings typically include
- 3Use CIF resolution (352x288) for the best quality 3GP supports — QCIF is only necessary for the most basic legacy devices
- 4Choose AAC audio over AMR-NB if the target device supports it, for substantially better sound quality from the AC3 source
- 5Process WTV files in batches if you have a large Media Center archive — each file can take several minutes due to the large source sizes
WTV to 3GP conversion rescues Windows Media Center TV recordings from format obsolescence and compresses them into the most compact mobile format for feature phone viewing and MMS sharing.