The Advanced Systems Format (ASF) is the file format used by Windows Media
Technologies. Audio and/or Video content compressed with a wide variety of
codecs can be stored in an ASF file and played back with the Windows Media
Player.
The Advanced Systems Format (ASF) is an extensible file format designed to
store synchronized multimedia data. It supports data delivery over a wide
variety of networks and protocols while still proving suitable for local
playback. ASF supports advanced multimedia capabilities including extensible
media types, component download, scaleable media types, author-specified stream
prioritization, multiple language support, and extensive bibliographic
capabilities, including document and content management.
The Advanced Systems Format file container stores the following in one file:
audio, multi-bit-rate video, metadata (such as the file's title and author), and
index and script commands (such as URLs and closed captioning). The file
container supports files as large as 17 million terabytes.
To ensure that content is associated with compatible players, there are
several different file extensions. The file extension used should be:
.WMA for files that include audio compressed with the Windows Media Audio
codec, or
WMV for files that include both audio and video compressed with Windows Media
Audio and Windows Media Video codecs.
Content compressed with other codecs should be stored in file and use the .ASF
extension.
By using separate extensions, users can install multiple players on their
system – some which may play only audio, and associate with the .WMA extension,
and different players that play both audio and video, and associate with the .WMV
extension.
Original text: http://www.xvsonline.com/xfiles/techart.htm
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