The Microsoft Signal Processing Group’s WMA form of audio compression was developed and made available for purchase in 1999. Although WMA files may be played back by Windows Media Player, it wasn’t possible to create files with this extension until Windows Media Player 7. In order to compete with the extremely popular MP3 and RealAudio file formats, this file type was created. Success resulted from the widespread use of WMA files for DVD video playing as well as the video playback capabilities of mobile/portable devices from Playstation and Nokia. Although WMA files are often lossy, some formats also support lossless compression.
Both the audio file format and the audio codecs are referred to as WMA. There are four codes in total. WMA should rival MP3 and RealAudio. WMA Pro: audio with many channels and excellent resolution. Contrary to the other codecs, WMA Lossless compresses audio without compromising quality. WMA Voice uses a low bit rate to compress voice content. Although this claim was refuted by audiophiles, Microsoft asserts that the 64 kbit/s size gives quality that is comparable to CDs. The Advanced Systems Format, which includes digital audio and video, is typically found in WMA files. WMA can handle stereo audio channels at a maximum sampling rate of 48 kHz. Microsoft decreased coding latency by introducing low-delay audio in WMA 9.1.
list of programs that can open WMA documents:
- MPlayer
- Realplayer
- VLC Media Player
- Windows Media Player
- Windows Movie Maker
- Zune software
- Open Source