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Supported Protocols and File Types

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[The feature associated with this page, Windows Media Player SDK, is a legacy feature. It has been superseded by MediaPlayer. MediaPlayer has been optimized for Windows 10 and Windows 11. Microsoft strongly recommends that new code use MediaPlayer instead of Windows Media Player SDK, when possible. Microsoft suggests that existing code that uses the legacy APIs be rewritten to use the new APIs if possible.]

Windows Media Player supports several protocols and many file types, all of which can be used when specifying URL values in the Player object model for properties such as Player.URL or in Windows Media metafile playlists. Additionally, the supported protocols can be used when specifying protocol values with the proxy-related methods of the Network object.

The following digital media file formats are currently supported for playback by Windows Media Player:

  • Advanced Systems Format (ASF)
  • AIF
  • AIFC
  • AIFF
  • AU
  • AVI
  • MID
  • MPE
  • MPEG
  • MPG
  • MPv2
  • MP2
  • MP3
  • M1V
  • SND
  • WAV
  • Windows Media files with a .wm file name extension
  • Windows Media Audio (WMA)
  • Windows Media Video (WMV)

The following protocols are currently supported by Windows Media Player.

Protocol Description
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol. Includes HTTP with fast cache and multicast.
RTSP Real Time Streaming Protocol. Includes RTSP with fast cache.
RTSPU RTSP used with User Datagram Protocol (UDP). Includes RTSPU with fast cache
RTSPT RTSP used with Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). Includes RTSPT with fast cache
MMS Microsoft Media Server protocol.
MMSU MMS used with UDP.
MMST MMS used with TCP.
WMPCD A protocol used by Windows Media Player to provide access to CDs.
WMPDVD A protocol used by Windows Media Player to provide access to DVDs.

 

About the Player Object Model

WMPCD Protocol

WMPDVD Protocol