Convert WTV to RM — Free Online Tool
Convert WTV recorded TV files from Windows Media Center into RealMedia (.rm) format using MJPEG video and AAC audio — entirely in your browser. This is useful for archiving or sharing legacy broadcast recordings in a streaming-oriented container format that was widely used in the early internet era.
to
FFmpeg Command
Copy this command to run the same conversion locally with FFmpeg on your desktop. Download FFmpeg
Drop your WTV file here
or click to browse
Free — no uploads, no signups. Your files never leave your browser.
Settings
Note: Browser-based encoding uses approximate quality targets. For precise CRF compression, copy the FFmpeg command above and run it on your desktop.
Estimated output:
Conversion Complete!
DownloadHow It Works
WTV files store digital broadcast recordings from Windows Vista/7 Media Center, typically containing H.264 or MPEG-2 video with AC-3 or AAC audio, along with DVR metadata and potentially multiple audio tracks. Because RM only supports MJPEG video (not H.264 or MPEG-2), the video stream must be fully re-encoded from its original broadcast codec into MJPEG — a frame-by-frame JPEG compression scheme. The audio is transcoded or passed through to AAC. Any WTV-specific metadata such as program title, episode info, and broadcast timestamps will be stripped, as RM has no equivalent metadata fields. Multiple audio tracks found in the WTV are reduced to a single track, since RM does not support multiple audio streams.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg tool, which handles all demuxing, decoding, encoding, and muxing for this WTV-to-RM conversion pipeline. |
-i input.wtv
|
Specifies the input WTV file — a Windows Media Center broadcast recording that may contain H.264 or MPEG-2 video, multiple audio tracks, DVR metadata, and subtitles. |
-c:v mjpeg
|
Re-encodes the video stream to MJPEG, the only video codec supported by FFmpeg's RM muxer. This requires full decoding and re-encoding of the original broadcast video, which is computationally expensive for long TV recordings. |
-c:a aac
|
Encodes the audio to AAC, which is the default and higher-quality audio option available in the RM container. If the WTV source already uses AAC, FFmpeg may still transcode it to ensure compatibility with the RM muxer's constraints. |
-q:v 5
|
Sets the MJPEG video quality on a scale of 1 (best quality, largest file) to 10 (worst quality, smallest file). A value of 5 provides a middle-ground balance between visual fidelity and file size for typical broadcast TV content. |
-b:a 128k
|
Sets the AAC audio bitrate to 128 kilobits per second, which is generally sufficient for clear dialogue and music in a TV recording while keeping file size reasonable within the RM container's streaming-focused design. |
output.rm
|
Specifies the output file as a RealMedia (.rm) container. FFmpeg infers the RM muxer from this extension, which enforces the format's limitations — no subtitles, no chapters, and only a single audio track from the source WTV. |
Common Use Cases
- Archiving old Windows Media Center TV recordings in a format that can be streamed or played back on legacy RealPlayer installations
- Preparing digitized broadcast content recorded from 1990s or early 2000s television for distribution on platforms that historically relied on RealMedia streaming
- Reducing WTV file sizes for storage by converting the high-bitrate broadcast recording to MJPEG, which can be tuned for smaller file size at the cost of quality
- Converting recorded TV content into RM so it can be served via legacy RealServer or Helix streaming infrastructure still in use at some institutions
- Extracting a single-track, simplified video file from a multi-audio-track WTV recording when only one language or commentary track is needed
- Generating a RealMedia version of a recorded broadcast for inclusion in a vintage multimedia CD-ROM or digital archive project that targets period-accurate formats
Frequently Asked Questions
No. WTV files embed rich DVR metadata including program title, episode description, channel name, broadcast timestamp, and ratings information. The RealMedia format has no equivalent metadata schema to hold this information, so all of it will be lost during conversion. If preserving this metadata matters, consider exporting it separately or choosing a more modern container like MKV before converting.
WTV recordings typically contain H.264 or MPEG-2 video, neither of which is supported by the RM container. RealMedia only supports MJPEG as a video codec in FFmpeg's RM muxer, so the entire video stream must be decoded and re-encoded frame by frame into MJPEG. This is a computationally intensive step and will take noticeably longer than a simple remux, especially for hour-long broadcast recordings.
Only one audio track will be included in the output RM file, because RealMedia does not support multiple audio streams. FFmpeg will default to selecting the first (or highest-priority) audio track from the WTV. If you specifically need the secondary track, you would need to modify the FFmpeg command to explicitly select that stream using the -map flag, for example adding '-map 0:a:1' to target the second audio track.
MJPEG at the default quality setting (-q:v 5) produces noticeably softer video than a modern H.264 or MPEG-2 broadcast stream, because MJPEG compresses each frame independently without inter-frame prediction. Fine details, gradients, and motion sequences that look crisp in the original WTV recording will appear blockier or blurrier in the RM output. Lower -q:v values (closer to 1) produce higher quality at larger file sizes.
For video, change the -q:v value: lower numbers mean higher quality (1 is best, 10 is worst), with 5 as the default. For example, use '-q:v 2' for a sharper image at the cost of a larger file. For audio, change the -b:a value: options include 64k, 96k, 128k, 192k, or 256k. A TV recording typically benefits from at least 128k AAC for acceptable dialogue clarity. Be aware that increasing quality on a long WTV broadcast recording can significantly increase file size.
Yes. On Linux or macOS you can loop over files in a directory with a shell command such as: for f in *.wtv; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:v mjpeg -c:a aac -q:v 5 -b:a 128k "${f%.wtv}.rm"; done. On Windows Command Prompt, use: for %f in (*.wtv) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -c:v mjpeg -c:a aac -q:v 5 -b:a 128k "%~nf.rm". This is especially practical if you have a library of Media Center recordings you want to archive in RealMedia format.
Technical Notes
WTV is a container designed specifically for Windows Media Center DVR use, supporting H.264 and MPEG-2 video, AC-3 and AAC audio, subtitles, multiple audio tracks, and extensive broadcast metadata. RealMedia (.rm) is a proprietary legacy container developed by RealNetworks in the mid-1990s and optimized for low-bandwidth internet streaming rather than broadcast archival. FFmpeg's RM muxer has limited codec support: only MJPEG is available for video, which is inherently less efficient than modern codecs — MJPEG encodes each frame as an independent JPEG, making it less suitable for high-motion broadcast content like sports. Audio support in RM is limited to AAC and MP3 (libmp3lame). Notably, the RM format does not support subtitles, chapters, or multiple audio tracks, meaning any of these features present in the WTV source file will be silently dropped. The output file size for a typical one-hour TV recording converted to RM with default settings will likely be substantially different from the source WTV, depending on the original broadcast bitrate. Because this conversion involves full video re-encoding (not a remux), processing time is significant — expect several minutes per hour of footage even on capable hardware.