How to Play a Windows Media Video (.wmv) File on a TV

So you have a great video file in WMV format and you want to view it on your great new HDTV? Well this article will help you out, with advice on how to view other formats as well!

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Xbox 360 (optional)
• PC
• Television
• DVD player with WMV support (optional)
• Laptop (optional)

1. Consolidate all your media files that you wish to watch on your television.
2. Decide if you want to watch them from a PC, your DVD player or Xbox 360.
3. If you want to watch them from your PC, your television will need input jacks that match your output jacks from your PC. If you have an HDTV use VGA to VGA / DVI to DVI / or HDMI to HDMI (HDMI is the best option) If you have an older laptop most of them support S-Video out put into many tv's. Newer televisions support analog inputs and you can use a male-to-male VGA cable connected directly from your pc or laptop to your television. Follow any manuals you have with your video card or television on this configuration as models vary significantly.
4. If you want to watch a WMV file on DVD player (assuming your DVD player cannot natively watch WMV files) you can convert the video file to MPG using a program like SUPER or TMPENG and then use CDBURNERXP or your local CD burning app. Programs like ROXIO and NERO tend to be able to burn WMV to DVD directly and still play in many players. (DVD-R or DVD+R) tend to play in many DVD players. (More so then DVD-/+RW)
5. You can copy a file to a usb stick and play them directly from the media blade in your XBOX 360 dashboard.

Tips & Warnings

• An Xbox 360 will play more formats with the most recent update and makes it very convenient to watch movies on.
• Some DVD players allow you to burn DVD's (or use a usb drive) with the WMV file on it, this is easy to do.
• Many older television sets do not display PC images properly, but you could lower your PC's native resolution to improve television images.
• Burning a DVD with WMV files is illegal if the WMV file is protected with DRM (Digital Rights Management).
• Watching DRM WMV files without a license is illegal.
• WMV files often have higher resolutions then some older televisions support. You may need to resample a video to have it work which could take a significant amount of time.
• If you connect your pc to your tv you may need to run audio cables from your sound card to your television.
• Make sure all your equipment is designed to allow the connection you are using and that it operates at the correct voltage/current/ or resistance rating. In general the manuals of the devices will offer guidance on connections if they are possible.