DV: a Container for Compressed Digital Videos in Video Cameras

Having no grasp of detailed information about DV files and its development? Want to know more about what to do in opening, playing and converting your DV videos to any other format? We will guide you into everything you need about DV files. Go ahead with this post.

Part 1: What is a DV Format?

DV, the full name of which is Digital Video, stands for a family of codecs and tape formats used for storing digital videos. Developed in 1995 by video camera manufacturers with Sony and Panasonic at its core, this media-dependent format begins its progress along with professional television production with higher quality. DV signals are formatted for transfer between devices in 80-byte blocks referred to as DV-DIF data (DV Digital Interface Format), and these DV-DIF blocks can be stored as files in raw form (.dv or .dif extension) or wrapped in such file formats as AVI, QuickTime, and MXF. Videos are compressed in lossy ones, but the audio in DV remains uncompressed. Under the same compression scheme, the DV variants, including DVCPRO, DVCPRO50, DVCPRO Progressive, DVCAM and more are adopted for enhanced robustness, color rendition, raster size and linear editing capabilities.

Part 2. Compare DV with Other File Formats

DV VS HDV

HDV, as its full name High-definition Video indicates, is an HD video recording format on DV tape. HDV files use rectangular pixels wider than HD and have a resolution of 720p and 1080i. In comparison, DV is a tape format for SD videos and shoots NTSC in 480i60.

DV VS DVCAM

Developed by Sony, DVCAM (Digital Video Camera) is designated to cater to users at the semi-professional and lower-end levels. With a faster compression speed and the capability of DV playback (in DVCAM VCR), DVCAM can be regarded as a variant of DV.

DV VS MiniDV

On some occasions, DV can be equal to MiniDV, which also uses a DV codec for recording. But as a variant of DV, MiniDV covers DVCAM and DVCPRO and is adopted by professionals nowadays for the digital quality image and sound.

Part 3. How to Open and Play DV Files

You can access multimedia players that support DV playing on your PC. If you are a Mac user, you can try iMovie and QuickTime Player to help open and play your DV files. On Windows PC, we suggest you should try ArkThinker Video Converter Ultimate (support both iOS and Windows systems), VLC Media Player and PowerDVD for a convenient experience.

Part 4. How to Convert between DV and Other Formats

ArkThinker Video Converter Ultimate is a reliable and efficient DV converter which functions well to meet all your conversion needs. With it in hand, you are guaranteed to change between DV and other popluar formats like MP4, AVI, MP3, WMV, M4V, 3GP, MPEG, MOV, OGG on both videos and audio. Good quality and a small size of the converted file will never let you down. And you can also merge multiple programs into one and ahieve batch converison within several clicks.. You can gain access to it with the accesses below based on your PC.

Quick Steps to Convert DV

You can find an easy solution for converting DV files from/to any other format with the list as a reference. Go find your possible answers below.

Convert DV to Other Formats

• DV to MP4
• DV to AVI
• DV to MP3
• DV to WMV
• DV to M4V
• DV to DV
• DV to 3GP
• DV to MXF
• DV to SWF
• DV to M3U
• DV to MKV
• DV to MP3
• DV to MOV
• DV to MPEG
• DV to FLV
• DV to VOB
• DV to OGG
• DV to OGV
• DV to TS
• DV to M4A
• DV to M3UB
• DV to WAV
• DV to ARF
• DV to AVCHD
• DV to VHS

Convert Other Formats to DV

• MP3 to DV
• MP4 to DV
• AVI to DV
• WMV to DV
• M4V to DV
• DV to DV
• 3GP to DV
• MXF to DV
• SWF to DV
• M3U to DV
• MKV to DV
• MP3 to DV
• MOV to DV
• MPEG to DV
• FLV to DV
• VOB to DV
• OGG to DV
• OGV to DV
• TS to DV
• M4A to DV
• M3UB to DV
• WAV to DV
• ARF to DV
• AVCHD to DV
• VHS to DV

Part 5. FAQs about DV

• 1. What is DV resolution?

  In DV files, the resolution is usually 720X480 while HDV, the high-definition version is 720X1080.

• 2. How to Convert MP4 to DV？

  You can change your MP4 Videos to DV with ArkThinker Video Converter Ultimate. It’s a trustworthy platform for DV files and helps you complete the conversion safely and quickly.

• 3. What is the difference between VHS and DV?

  VHS refers to Video Home System, which is developed for analog video recording on tape cassettes that go with the consumers. A DV tape doesn’t match with VHS for loading and displaying with its different signals.