What is ASF format?

About ASF Format

ASF stands for Advanced Systems Format. It was developed by Microsoft as part of the Windows Media framework. ASF is based on serialized objects which are essentially byte sequences identified by a GUID marker.ASF is most commonly used for streaming media purposes. The format doesn’t specify the way video or audio should be encoded. ASF specifies the structure of video or audio stream. Due to this encoded with different audio or video codecs the files will still have .asf extension (just like other container formats AVI or OGG).

The most common file types contained within an ASF file are Windows Media Audio (WMA) and Windows Media Video (WMV). Note that the file extension abbreviations are different from the codecs which have the same name. Files containing only WMA audio can be named using a .WMA extension, and files of audio and video content may have the extension .WMV. Both may use the .ASF extension if desired.

The main advantage of an ASF file is that playback is possible on a wide variety of applications – such as different types of servers (e.g. HTTP and digital media servers) and local storage devices (e.g. hard disks and CDs). Other benefits include support of scalable audio, video, and other data; provides a means to share one multimedia file easily over different range of bandwidths; create multimedia files independent of operating system and communication protocol; and control of stream relationships in multimedia files.

ASF files are supported by Windows Media Player and VideoLAN VLC media player over all platforms.

Related Software

Leawo Video Converter (ASF Converter): an easy video and audio solution for any format conversions, with fast speed and excellent output guaranteed. Equipped with 3D conversion function, you can get 3D ASF video as output. This ASF Converter not only converts common videos to ASF video format, but also converts ASF video to other video formats.

Leawo DVD Ripper (DVD to ASF Ripper): a useful DVD ripping program for users to rip DVD to video in various formats. So with it you can enjoy great convenience to convert DVD to ASF for appreciation. This DVD to ASF Ripper enables you to convert DVD to ASF with fast speed and excellent video quality. 3D ASF video as output is also supportable.

References

How to convert asf to mov
Convert asf to f4v for uploading

External links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Systems_Format
http://www.videohelp.com/glossary?A#ASF