FLV simply means Flash Video. These videos may also use the F4V file extension. FLV mainly works with the Adobe Flash Player with its primary purpose is to play videos over the internet. Know more about FLV through the detailed explanation below.
- FLV Format
Created by Adobe Systems, FLV is a file format that embeds audio and video files for ease of playback. FLV files are closely associated with SWF files. Aside from being developed by the same company, FLV files may be embedded within SWF. Many video sharing websites support the upload of FLV files on their system, such as YouTube, Metacafe, Hulu, and Yahoo Videos.
- FLV Codec
Installing the FLV codec would allow the Windows Media Player to easily play FLV files. Codecs are plug-in that allows media players to recognize videos of different formats and process them properly. Some FLV codecs can do more than just seamless playback. There are those that also provide added functions like zooming, full screen viewing, and skipping. In the same way, playing FLV files on a browser would require a specified browser plug-in.
- How to Play FLV Video Files
FLV video files are not directly playable by the Windows Media Player or QuickTime. As stated above, a special codec is required to be able to play FLV on the Windows Media Player. As for Mac computers and Apple devices using QuickTime, there are no applicable codecs as of yet. QuickTime won’t be able to play FLV videos at all. The only workaround is to install a compatible FLV player. The most recommended one of course, is the Adobe Flash Player. However, there are many other programs that can do the same thing. For mobile devices though, the only workaround is to convert the FLV file into a format that is easily recognizable by the pre-installed media player.
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