What is an FLV file?
FLV is leftover Flash video from the era before HTML5 players. Flash itself is gone, so nothing plays these any more without special software, and converting to MP4 is what makes an old clip watchable again. You can convert FLV files here, both into the format and out of it.
Specification
| Full name | Flash Video |
|---|---|
| Extensions | .flv, .f4v |
| Media type | video/x-flv |
| Compression | Lossy |
| Transparency | — |
| Animation | — |
| Multiple pages | — |
| Colour depth | — |
| Size limits | — |
| Introduced | 2002 |
| Developed by | Adobe / Macromedia |
| Standard | Proprietary |
| Browser support | Not displayed by browsers |
What FLV is used for
- Archived video from the Flash era of the web
- Old screen recordings and e-learning modules
- Old streaming captures
Strengths and limitations
What FLV does well
- Small files and fast start-up over slow connections
- Simple enough that conversion tools read it reliably
Where FLV falls short
- Nothing plays it any more, Flash is fully end of life
- Limited in what it can hold, with no modern features
Convert FLV to
Every target this format can be written out as, each on its own page.
Convert to FLV
Everything that can be turned into a FLV file.
Tools that accept FLV
Questions about FLV
What is a .flv file?
FLV is leftover Flash video from the era before HTML5 players. The extension .flv or .f4v identifies it, and its media type is video/x-flv.
How do I open an FLV file?
Browsers do not display FLV natively, so you either need software that understands it or you convert it to something more common first. Converting is usually the faster route when you only need to look at the contents once.
Is FLV lossy or lossless?
Lossy. That means detail is discarded during encoding and each re-save compounds the loss, so keep an untouched master where quality matters.
What is FLV good for?
Small files and fast start-up over slow connections. Simple enough that conversion tools read it reliably. In practice that makes it a good fit for archived video from the Flash era of the web, and Old screen recordings and e-learning modules.
What are the drawbacks of FLV?
Nothing plays it any more, Flash is fully end of life. Limited in what it can hold, with no modern features.