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  "description": "VC-1 is Microsoft's SMPTE-standardised video codec from the Blu-ray and Windows Media era; it is legacy now and FFmpeg only decodes it.",
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    {
      "title": "SMPTE ST 421:2013 VC-1 bitstream specification",
      "url": "https://pub.smpte.org/pub/st421/st0421-2013.pdf",
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      "title": "Microsoft Windows Media Video 9 decoder",
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      "title": "Microsoft: Blu-ray BD-ROM specification adds VC-1 (2004)",
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  "markdown": "VC-1 is Microsoft's video codec, derived from Windows Media Video 9 and standardised by SMPTE as 421M in 2006 (now ST 421). It competed with [AVC](/codecs/video/avc/) and is one of the three mandatory video codecs for Blu-ray players, alongside MPEG-2 and AVC; HD DVD used the same three. It is a legacy format now: you will meet it in old Blu-ray rips, `.wmv` files and Windows Media archives.\n\nIt has three profiles, all 8-bit 4:2:0:\n\n| Profile | Scope | Windows Media FourCC |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Simple | Low-complexity progressive coding | `WMV3` |\n| Main | Broader progressive tools | `WMV3` |\n| Advanced | Progressive and interlaced coding; used on Blu-ray | `WVC1` |\n\nA `.wmv` extension does not mean VC-1: Windows Media Video 7 and 8 (`WMV1`, `WMV2`) are different, older codecs.\n\n## Decode and convert\n\nFFmpeg, and players built on it such as VLC and mpv, decode VC-1 in software (the `vc1` and `wmv3` decoders), and many GPUs accelerate it. There is no open-source VC-1 encoder; FFmpeg's `wmv1` and `wmv2` encoders produce the older codecs, not VC-1.\n\nTo keep the original stream without re-encoding, remux it:\n\n```sh\nffmpeg -i input.wmv -c copy output.mkv\n```\n\nTo make a playable copy for modern devices, transcode once from the original:\n\n```sh\nffmpeg -i input.wmv -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -c:a aac output.mp4\n```\n\nAdvanced profile can carry interlaced video, for example 1080i Blu-ray content. Add a deinterlacer such as `-vf bwdif` to the transcode for those sources.\n\nBrowsers do not play VC-1; see [video codec support](/reference/video-codec-support/).\n"
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