This article will offer you a thorough explanation of the FLV file format, including what it is, how to open it, how to convert it, and the advantages and disadvantages of the FLV file format.
What Is an FLV File?
FLV, short for Flash Video, is a relatively new video format. It’s used to share and save audio and video files over the Internet using Adobe Flash Player or Adobe Air. The encoding method of the data in FLV files is the same as that of SWF files. But the size of SWF files is always too large, which is inconvenient for Internet use.
However, in 2021, Adobe officially discontinued the support for Flash and stopped allowing Flash content to run in the Flash Player. Many services and software developers use HTML5 and other file formats instead of Flash.
How to Play an FLV File
Officially, Adobe Flash Player can be used to open FLV files. However, Adobe stopped supporting the FLV file format and discontinued developing this software in 2021.
Many players can be used to open an FLV file, such as Adobe Animate (Multiplatform), VideoLAN VLC media player (Multiplatform), Media Player Classic (Windows), QuickTime Player (Mac), and RealTimes (iOS and Android).
How to Convert an FLV File
Many free video converters help you convert FLV files to other file formats.
If you need online video converters, you can try Zamzar or CloudConvert. They also serve as audio, image, and document converters. Both are outstanding in file conversion with many years of development.
Converting FLV files to other file formats is easy with these dedicated converters. All you need to do is to upload your file, select a targeted file format, and start converting files.
If you prefer a desktop video converter, Any Video Converter may be a good choice. It allows you to convert an FLV file to MP4, AVI, WMV, MP3, and many other file formats.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using FLV Files
Pros
FLV files can be opened on almost all operating systems because nearly all devices are installed with a built-in Flash player. However, when required to open a video with a .rm, .wmv, .mov, or .mp4 extension, you need to download dedicated codecs or players for these files.
FLV files are much smaller than other video files, and the loading speed is extremely fast, which makes the FLV file format quickly popular.
In addition, an FLV file always keeps its consistency on all devices and operating systems. No matter what device you use to open a Flash video, it will function the same way.
Cons
FLV hasn’t been developed for a long time, and it’s less commonly used than other video formats, such as WMV, MOV, MP4, etc.
It’s expensive and time-consuming to create a Flash video.
The FLV file format isn’t a common distribution format that is used in Windows Media or Quicktime, so you need to spend time converting other file formats to the FLV file format.
