Top 5 WMV Players to Easily Open WMV Files on Mac
WMV (Windows Media Video) was developed by Microsoft in 1999 for playing video files. It started on Windows Media Player, and has since found support on virtually every other video player out there. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been playable on Mac since 2006, unless you use another, non-Mac-native video player. And while there are literally dozens of third-party video files out there, finding a trustworthy video player today can be pretty tough. That’s why we’ve put together five of the best video player options, and explain to you why they’re the best ones out there.
Table of contents:
1. Elmedia Player: The Best WMV
Player for Mac
Without a doubt, the best solution for playing WMV files on a Mac device is Elmedia Player. It supports a wide range of media formats, not just video. No additional codecs or plugins needed, you can directly play files like AVI, FLV, SWF, MP4, MOV, MP3, DAT, FLAC, M4V, MPG, DivX, MKV, and of course, WMV.
Get more with Elmedia Player PRO for playing
WMV on Mac
For just $19.95, Elmedia Player PRO can download WMV files, stream unlimited video, audio, and pictures from your Mac to bigger screens like Smart TVs via AirPlay, Chromecast, Chromecast Ultra, or any other DLNA-enabled feature they may have. Elmedia Player PRO also allows for custom-tuning of video playback, lets you take screenshots, and gives you the ability to adjust the color and font of your subtitles.
Pros:
- Plays a wide range of video, image, and audio files.
- Unlimited streaming support.
- Unlimited screenshot capability.
- Create and curate your own playlists.
Cons:
- Possible issues with older Mac operating systems.
- Windows and Android versions unavailable.
2. VLC Media Player
Few apps that play WMV on Mac have the history that VLC Media Player does. This open-source and free to download video player has the ability to play 360-degree videos and media files up to 8K resolution, as well as videos in compressed file formats.
VLC also comes with a pretty expansive variety of features. You can modify the playback or audio quality, and even add filters to change the look of individual clips. They also work with synchronous subtitles for when you’re watching with no sound.
However, one of the problems VLC has is that it’s hard to find a lot of these features in the less-than-intuitive menu, which can make it frustrating to use.
Pros:
- Plays virtually any video file.
- Modify playback quality.
- Supports plugins.
Cons:
- Old interface.
- Some problems playing 4K videos.
3. 5KPlayer
If you’re looking for a free option to manage your entire video collection, then 5KPlayer is one of the best ways to watch WMV files on Mac. You can add your entire video library from your computer to 5KPlayer, which allows you to find videos via 5KPlayer instead of looking for them on your hard drive. To back that up, you can also stream videos straight from YouTube, as well as use Apple’s AirPlay to display those videos over multiple devices. And those videos can be in just about any format possible, and can be customized pretty easily thanks to the versatile audio and video playback management options.
Something to look out for is that the free version of 5KPlayer is supported by ads, which can annoy you while you’re in the player’s menus. Thankfully, they don’t play while you’re watching a video, though.
Pros:
- Streams from YouTube.
- Supports 360-degree video.
- Plays resolutions up to 8K.
Cons:
- Resource-Intensive.
- Jarring user interface for new users.
- Ad-Supported free version.
4. IINA Player
A dedicated macOS video player to open WMV files on Mac is IINA Player. This smartly-developed app provides users with easy-to-use menus and even supports gesture controls to make playing videos much easier. The features in this player make them ideal for watching with a Retina screen, and it’s perfect for all users’ needs, whether they need a simple video player or a high-quality professional player that can handle every part of the playback process, IINA can take care of anything you put up to it.
Pros:
- Excellent user interface with plenty of customization options.
- Doesn’t black out displays in full screen mode.
Cons:
- Some crash problems when loading .avi videos.
5. Switch
And if you’re looking for a video player that can handle a variety of web and professional formats, then Switch is what you’re looking for. Designed for media professionals, not only can you play videos, you can inspect, adjust the video files, as well as allowing single file transcoding and file conversion to ensure playback on any device. All you need to do is utilize the conversion to change Windows Media content into MP4 files to make it compatible with any device out there.
This device was developed by Telestream, the developers of Flip4Mac, which was the only way of playing WMV files on Mac via QuickTime for a very long time. It comes with several different plans to use Switch the way you want to, starting at $9.99.
Pros:
- Big variety of features to video playback.
- Multi-format playback.
Cons:
- Only has paid versions.
- Complicated user interface may be hard for new users.
Tips to choose a WMV player
So we’ve presented a bunch of capable Macintosh WMV player solutions, but we want to narrow that down even further with a quick list of features people should be looking for when trying to watch WMV on Mac.
A good WMV player should:
- Support high-quality videos like 4K and 8K.
- Be compatible with macOS Catalina.
- Be ad-free.
- Be intuitive to use.
- Not resource-intensive.
- Plays videos without delays or breaking.
Comparison table of WMV video player software
We’ve curated the best WMV players for Mac in one easy-to-remember chart. Find the right one for you right here!
What is WMV Mac format?
WMV, or Windows Media Video, is a compressed video file format. Developed by Microsoft and used in several different third-party apps as well as enabling easy sharing over Internet and Email. It allows compression of large video files while allowing for high-quality playback to be achieved, which makes it incredibly popular in use with online radio stations who deliver a continuous flow of data. Its similarity to ASF means that it can be packaged with that file as well as AVI, making it optimal for streaming.
Advantages of WMV File Format
WMV is one of the most common file formats used today. Here are some reasons why:
- Since it can store large amounts of data (video and audio) in relatively small storage capacity, it can be easily shared online. This makes it the most ideal for streaming and sharing files online.
- Since it was developed by Microsoft, it works best on Windows-powered devices. Although, many third-party apps use WMV as the default format.
- Support for WMV format stretches to older Windows applications and versions.
- High compression ratio — 2x more than MPEG-4.
- No loss of quality with Windows audio and video formats.
- Works well with web services like Google Drive, making it an optimal format for sharing content online.
- Can be easily converted to other formats if the device isn’t optimized for WMV playback and editing.
- Perfect file format for sharing video and audio through email due to its miniature size.
Воспроизведение Windows Media аудио и видео файлов (WMA и WMV) на Mac OS.
Если вы используете компьютер Macintosh, такой как MacBook работающий на MacOS, и хотите проигрывать и открывать Windows Media Audio (. WMA) или Windows Media Video (. WMV) файлы, вам необходимо немного изменить настройки и дополнения к Quicktime Player.В основном есть не поддерживающие форматы файлов WMA и WMV в QuickTime Player и тем самым они не могут быть воспроизведены на Mac OS, несмотря на то , что Quicktime является общепринятым стандартным мультимедийным и поддерживается на Windows.
Так что для того, чтобы открыть и проиграть Windows Media Audio и Windows Media форматы видео файлов в Mac, вам нужно будет установить Windows Media Components для QuickTime от Flip4Mac ,который распространяются Microsoft. Плагин Flip4Mac Windows Media Components для QuickTime обеспечивает поддержку Windows, медиа-файлов на Quicktime и, таким образом вы можете проиграть в Windows Media файлы (. WMA и. WMV) непосредственно в QuickTime Player и просмотра Windows Media контентов в Интернете с помощью веб-браузера.
Flip4Mac Windows Media Components для QuickTime оптимизирован для Power Mac G4 и G5 компьютеров и поддерживает воспроизведение высокой чёткости файлов Windows Media Video, и требует Mac OS X версии 10.3.9 или выше и QuickTime версии 6.5 или более поздней. Он не поддерживает контент, защищенный Windows Media управлением цифровыми правами (DRM).