Have you ever seen the error, ‘Cannot play, Video codec not supported?’ What is a codec and why do we need it to play a video file? A codec is a software or hardware-based process which is used to compress the data and reduce the file size.
Every video we watch on our computer or Smartphone is stored and shared in a specific format. Video files are often very big in size and thus the codec is used to compress the files and formats are the containers of these. There are many different file formats for video files and FLV is one of the most popular ones. Today, in this post, we will learn about what are FLV files, and how to play or convert them.
What are FLV Files?
FLV files are the Flash Video files stored in Adobe Flash Video format. Introduced by Adobe Flash Player 7 in the year 2003, FLV is one of the most commonly used video file formats and it comes with . FLV extension. This format is majorly used for storing the video content for Adobe Flash Player like movies, TV shows, etc but since it is an open format, it can be played in various media programs.
How to Open or Play FLV Files?
A media player needs the right codec to play a video file. FLV files as mentioned above are a very commonly used video file format and almost every popular media player supports FLV files. You can play your FLV files with Windows Media Player (download and install the CCCP codec), VLC Media Player, and many other popular media players. FLV files are not supported in iOS, so if you want to play an FLV file on your iOS device, you first need to convert it into MP4 or any other supported format.
Read: How to check installed Codecs on Windows
How to convert FLV Files?
There are many different free converters available on the web that helps you convert the FLV files into MP4, AVI, MOV, or other supported formats. Some of the most popular converters include- VideoSoft Converter, Any Video Converter Free, and Free HD Video Converter. There are also many online tools also available wherein you can upload your FLV file, covert it online into the required format, and then download it. Some of the popular ones include- OnlineVideoConverter, Online-Convert, Video-Converter, and Video Converter.
Read: Best free FLV to MP4 converters for PC
How do I change an FLV file to MP4?
To convert an FLV file into MP4, you either need to download a converter or use an online tool. There are many free video converting apps as well as online tools available on the web to change an FLV file into MP4.
Read: Best free online Video Converter Tools.
How to play FLV files on Windows?
You can play FLV Files on your Windows PC by using the VLC media player. You can also play these files on Windows Media Player but for that, you first need to download and install the CCCP codec.
