Free online WTV to TRP converter

A DVR, set-top box, or older media player may require an MPEG transport-stream file with the .trp extension instead of a Windows Media Center recording. Converting the recording can also make it easier to edit, archive, or play on hardware that does not recognize WTV.

What the WTV format is

WTV, or Windows Recorded TV Show, is a container used by Windows Media Center to store television recordings. Windows Vista and Windows 7 Media Center commonly created WTV files when recording from a digital TV tuner.

A WTV file can contain MPEG-2 or H.264 video, AC-3 or AAC audio, subtitles, program metadata, and recording information. The container itself does not guarantee one codec, so the correct conversion settings depend on the source stream. Copy-protected recordings may be encrypted and cannot be converted unless they are legally playable on the system performing the conversion.

What the TRP format is

TRP is commonly used for MPEG transport-stream video, especially recordings produced by DVRs, satellite receivers, and some HDTV devices. It is closely related to an MPEG-TS stream and normally stores packetized video and audio for playback or broadcast-style delivery.

The extension alone does not define the exact codecs, resolution, audio format, or device requirements. A target device may expect MPEG-2 video, H.264 video, AC-3 audio, a particular resolution, or a specific transport-stream profile. Changing the filename extension from .wtv to .trp does not perform this conversion.

How to actually convert WTV to TRP

For a straightforward conversion without installing software, use the converter on 101convert.com: upload the WTV file, choose TRP as the output format, start the conversion, and download the resulting file. The service is free to use and does not require desktop software. Do not upload recordings containing private or sensitive content unless its handling is acceptable.

FFmpeg provides more control on a desktop computer. First inspect the source streams:

ffprobe input.wtv

If the WTV already contains codecs accepted by the destination device, remux the streams without re-encoding:

ffmpeg -i input.wtv -map 0:v:0 -map 0:a:0? -c copy -f mpegts output.trp

This is fast and preserves the original audio and video quality, but it can fail on hardware that requires particular codecs or stream parameters.

For broader device compatibility, encode video as MPEG-2 and audio as MPEG audio:

ffmpeg -i input.wtv -map 0:v:0 -map 0:a:0? -c:v mpeg2video -q:v 3 -c:a mp2 -b:a 192k -f mpegts output.trp

Adjust the video settings when the device specifies a required format. For example, a fixed standard-definition output can be created with -vf scale=720:576; use the destination device's documentation rather than applying this filter by default.

Quality, compatibility, and limitations

Stream copying avoids generation loss. Re-encoding is necessary when the source codec is unsupported, but it reduces quality and takes longer. The MPEG-TS muxer can create a valid transport stream with a .trp name, yet some DVRs impose additional restrictions on resolution, frame rate, audio codec, service identifiers, or packet structure.

WTV metadata, Media Center recording markers, and some subtitle or secondary-audio streams may not survive the conversion. Use -map 0 instead of selecting only the first video and audio streams when you need to test whether additional streams can be retained:

ffmpeg -i input.wtv -map 0 -c copy -f mpegts output.trp

After conversion, check playback with a transport-stream-capable player and test the file on the target DVR or television before deleting the original WTV recording.