Convert DV files online for free
The converter easily converts your DV file to various formats - free and online. No VLC media player or or other Video software needed.
The converter also works in reverse, so you can convert other "Raw Video Stream" formats to DV without using software like VLC media player or a similar tool.
A .DV file is a raw Digital Video stream, a format that dominated the camcorder market in the late 90s and early 2000s (specifically MiniDV, Digital8, and DVCPRO tape formats). Unlike modern video containers, .DV files store video using intraframe compression, meaning every single frame is compressed independently. While this makes them excellent for frame-accurate editing in software like Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro, it creates massive files - roughly 13GB for just one hour of footage.
The main issue for users today is compatibility and "combing" artifacts. Because .DV is an interlaced format designed for old CRT televisions, watching these files on modern progressive PC monitors often results in jagged horizontal lines during motion. Furthermore, standard media players on Windows and macOS (like QuickTime) often drop support for legacy raw DV streams, and they are completely unplayable on mobile devices or web browsers without conversion. For sharing or archiving, the best practice is to convert .DV to MP4 (H.264) with a deinterlacing filter applied. For archival editing without losing quality, converting to a MOV container with the Apple ProRes codec is recommended. In rare cases, a .DV file might be a game save file from the Gothic series by Piranha Bytes, which cannot be converted to video formats.
Use Convert.Guru to open and convert your DV file.
Users also converted DCV, M4V, H264, TDT, MP4, MOV, SDR, USB and MKV files.
If you want to convert DV file to SDR or USB, you can use VLC media player or similar software from the "Camcorder Video Recording" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert RMVB or TS files to DV, try VLC media player or another comparable tool in the "Camcorder Video Recording" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our DV converter.