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What is an FLV file?
The format of the Flash era. Flash is gone, but FLV files still exist in old archives and some streaming setups (RTMP).
Pros
- Still used by RTMP live-streaming workflows
Cons
- No modern browser plays it directly
- Mostly obsolete
How to open FLV files
VLC Media Player (free, Windows/macOS/Linux/Android/iOS) opens FLV files with almost any codec. If a specific app won't open it, convert it to MP4.
Is FLV lossy or lossless?
FLV is a container, not a codec — whether it is lossy depends on the streams inside (H.264 video with AAC audio). In practice almost all FLV files use lossy compression.
When should you convert FLV?
Flash is gone, but FLV files still exist in old archives and some streaming setups (RTMP). If the app or device you need doesn't accept FLV, convert it to MP4 — the most widely supported alternative.
Convert FLV to…
FLV at a glance
- Full name
- Flash Video
- Developed by
- Adobe (Macromedia)
- Introduced
- 2003
- Contains
- H.264 video with AAC audio
- MIME type
- video/x-flv
- Best for
- old Flash archives, RTMP streaming