What are the different versions of WMV/WMA and which one should I use to encode my media file?
Available Windows Media format versions are 7, 8 and 9. If you encode your media with Windows Media 9 format and a user’s Windows Media Player is older version or does not have the required codec install, he/she will not be able to play the media file. However, most of the time, Microsoft Windows Media codecs are automatically downloaded by Windows Media Player, including all Windows Media codec updates. Windows Media 9 does offer new features and improvements. Most notably Windows Media 9 features 15-30 percent performance and quality improvements over Windows Media 8, and three times the compression efficiency of MPEG-4. So, using Windows Media 9, you would be able to encode your media in lower bit rate and yet provide equivalent quality. Windows Media Encoder 9 series also allows you to encode file with multiple bit rate (MBR). This allows you to have one single file with multiple resolutions/qualities and have the server serve up the correct version, depending on the bandwidth of t
