How To Play WMV Files In Chrome
Windows Media Video (.wmv) is a video file format developed by Microsoft. It is commonly used on Windows operating systems and devices along with many major video streaming services such as XBOX Video, Amazon, and AT&T U-verse. However, a typical issue of this video format is its questionable compatibility for Chrome browser. After this tutorial, you will have the fundamentals about WMV files and how to play WMV files on Goole Chrome. This tutorial is also used as a short term paper for students in many univeristy.
WMV’s compatibility
Recently the Window Media Video format has been suffering from lack of support on mobile devices and diminishing support of browser plugins and advent of HTML5 and embedded videos. It has been no more a strange thing that WMV does not work properly on Window laptop, desktop, phone, offline XBOX 360 and Mac. In most cases, users have to use third-party developed media players for Android and iOS devices which are able to play WMV files.
How To Play WMV Files In Chrome
Another compatibility issue is playing a Windows Media Video from the VCC. It raises the concern of the video and audio codes being used during the encoding procedure. We commonly use Microsoft Expression Encoder for both recording and streaming, and the VC-1 codec for audio and video.
Current problems for Chrome browser
Whenever you try to stream the WMV format videos from Chrome browser, it will be such a norm that the browser will automatically download the file rather than play it. Additionally, when it download the video, the file size would be 1kb and cannot display any content.
As a result, if you want to run the WMV files on Chrome, you are advised to download and install a media player or plugin that will stream the WMV files for you. You may probably know that there are numerous players out there on the Chrome Web Store that support the playback of Window Media Video files. So, there are many options for you; however, below are some highly recommended by their popularity and benefits offered.
Please note that Windows Media Players from Microsoft can be easily downloaded and install for both Windows and Mac. Also, the players will work well with .wmv files, provided that the player is up-to-date. Meanwhile, some older versions of the Windows Media Player will not support the VC-1 video codec.
How To Play WMV Files In Chrome
3 Recommended WMV Players for Chrome
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VLC Media Player
VLC Media Player is the most popular player with the user network of millions of people. It allows you to run any format of the video file. Also, It is a cross-platform multimedia player which run your media files along with CDs, VCDs, Audio CDs, and DVDs and other multimedia files.
You are advised to install VLC Media Player from its official website and make sure that you install it with all plugins/ extensions.
Next, go to your Chrome web browser and type “chrome://plugins”. You will receive a notification “VLC Web Plugin”.
When the message appears, it means that you have successfully installed the VLC Media Player plugin for Chrome.
Plus:
Simple, powerful, fast and user-friendly interface
Supports for all Window, Linux, Unix, iOS, and Mac
Available for free as open source software
Plays almost every multimedia format
No need for codec packs
Plays everything including disc’s, webcam’s and stream
No spyware and ads problem
Minus:
Sometimes it is not possible to copy and paste the URL to stream the video
Sound cutting feature does not work properly
Crash in full-screen mode in some Chrome OS
Download VLC Media Player here
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RealPlayer Cloud
RealPlayer Cloud is a video player that enables you to store and play your videos in the cloud. It can get access to all portable devices. In other words, with this player, you can access your videos on your smartphone, tablet, TV or PC. Additionally, if you share your videos with other peoples, they could watch them without using RealPlayer Cloud.
You can download RealPlayer Cloud from Chrome web store and play all your WMV files easily. It is powered by SurePlayTM, which is developed by RealNetworks.
Plus:
Easy to use interface allows you to move your videos to any device and upload them to the cloud quickly
Your videos are available instantly on any device
Videos are formatted perfectly for any device
Minus:
Issues with downloading videos fromYoutube
Audio files sometimes do not work with the new version
Download RealPlayer Download here
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WebPage Video Player
WebPage Video Player is one of the best WMV players on Chrome. It allows you to play any format of video on web pages with the help of an external player. You can also upload or play your WMV video with ease.
Plus:
Best WMV video extension to play any clips or playlist on Youtube
Stream WMV file with high-quality of resolution and audio.
Minus:
Issues with loading some file format
No instruction, guidelines or support
Download WebPage Video Player here
Install Windows Media Player Plugin
You all may know that Google Chrome will not automatically play WMV files as this requires Window Media Player, which is not a default plugin within the Chrome browser. However, this plugin in available as a free download for Window here
On PC that is running Mac OS X, you can download Flip4Mac WMV plugin for Quicktime from Microsoft here
Install Windows Media Player HTML Extension for Chrome
Windows Media Player HTML 5 is an extension for the Google Chrome web browser that supports any content and format of Windows Media files on non-IE browsers. Due to this improvement, Chrome users can play H.264 encoded videos on HTML5 web pages just by scanning and replacing video tags with the Windows Media Player plugin.
Download HTML5 Extension for Chrome here
As simple as that, the content will be displayed. However, the extension can only replace the video tags only if it is in the list of formats supported by Windows Media Player. And to know whether or not it is compatible, check out the list here
Above are the instructions on how to play WMV files in Chrome. As we utilize Windows Media Video as a ready to use and livestream solution, this tutorial provides you with a test stream for you to give your video a try and see if Windows Media Video will successfully be played on your devices. Click here to check.
Strongly hope that you will be having a good time watching your WMV files on Google Chrome. A bove is a short post about how to play WMV Files In Chrome
