Updated Windows Phone 7 Codecs list

News · 18 Sep 2010 · MTW Editorial Team

With the release of the final developer tools Microsoft has also updated the list of supported media codecs in Windows Phone 7 . This new list is a lot more detailed than the previous one and is a must read for all developers building multimedia applications. As you can see below only the WMV Simple and Main-Profile video codecs iare supported in the Emulator so you will definitely have to test your application on a real device before submitting it to the Marketplace. Check the full list below:

Decoder Support	Container	Possible Audio Combinations	Max Capabilities	Supported Scenarios
LPCM	WAV	N/A	Up to 1,500 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 96 kHz 1 or 2 channels	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages Using XNA sound effects (PCM only) Playing or streaming media with the MediaElement API Playing media in the device Media Player Streaming media in Internet Explorer Mobile
MS ADPCM	WAV	N/A	Up to 64 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 8 kHz 1 or 2 channels	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages Using XNA sound effects (PCM only) Playing or streaming media with the MediaElement API Playing media in the device Media Player Streaming media in Internet Explorer Mobile
IMA ADPCM	WAV	N/A	Up to 64 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 8 kHz 1 or 2 channels	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages Using XNA sound effects (PCM only) Playing or streaming media with the MediaElement API Playing media in the device Media Player Streaming media in Internet Explorer Mobile
GSM 6.10	WAV	N/A	Up to 13 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 8 kHz 1 or 2 channels	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages Using XNA sound effects (PCM only) Playing or streaming media with the MediaElement API Playing media in the device Media Player Streaming media in Internet Explorer Mobile
G.711	WAV	N/A	Up to 64 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 8 kHz 1 or 2 channels	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages Using XNA sound effects (PCM only) Playing or streaming media with the MediaElement API Playing media in the device Media Player Streaming media in Internet Explorer Mobile
MP3	MP3	N/A	Up to 320 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages Syncing content from the Zune client to the device MediaLibrary Enumerating media from the MediaLibrary using the XNA Framework Playing or streaming media with the MediaElement API Playing media in the device Media Player Streaming media in Internet Explorer Mobile
WMA Standard v9	ASF (WMA)	N/A	Up to 384 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages Syncing content from the Zune client to the device MediaLibrary Enumerating media from the MediaLibrary using the XNA Framework Playing or streaming media with the MediaElement API Playing media in the device Media Player Streaming media in Internet Explorer Mobile
AAC-LC (Low Complexity) This codec is unsupported in Windows® Phone Emulator.	3GP, 3G2, MP4, M4A	N/A	Up to 320 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages (MMS does not support M4A) Syncing content from the Zune client to the device MediaLibrary (3GP and 3G2 are unsupported) Enumerating media from the MediaLibrary using the XNA Framework Playing or streaming media with the MediaElement API Playing media in the device Media Player Streaming media in Internet Explorer Mobile Videos captured using the device camera (as an MP4 file) will have their audio stream encoded as this codec type
HE-AAC v1 (AAC+) This codec is unsupported in Windows Phone Emulator.	3GP, 3G2, MP4, M4A	N/A	Up to 64 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages (MMS does not support M4A) Playing or streaming media with the MediaElement API Playing media in the device Media Player Streaming media in Internet Explorer Mobile
HE-AAC v2 (eAAC+) This codec is unsupported in Windows Phone Emulator.	3GP, 3G2, MP4, M4A	N/A	Up to 48 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages (MMS does not support M4A) Playing or streaming media with the MediaElement API Playing media in the device Media Player Streaming media in Internet Explorer Mobile
Adaptive Multi-Rate Narrow Band (AMR-NB) This codec is unsupported in Windows Phone Emulator.	3GP, 3G2, MP4	N/A	Up to 12.2 Kbps Constant bit rate Up to 8 kHz 1 or 2 channels	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages
WMV (VC-1, WMV9) – Simple Profile This codec is unsupported in Windows Phone Emulator over 320 x 176 pixels.	ASF (WMV)	WMA Standard v9	Up to 2 Mbps avg video bit rate Up to 384 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels 800 x 600 pixels at 30 fps	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages Syncing content from the Zune client to the device MediaLibrary Playing or streaming media with the MediaElement API Playing media in the device Media Player Streaming media in Internet Explorer Mobile
WMV (VC-1, WMV9) – Main Profile This codec is unsupported in Windows Phone Emulator over 800 x 488 pixels.	ASF (WMV)	WMA Standard v9	Up to 2 Mbps avg video bit rate Up to 384 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels 800 x 600 pixels at 30 fps	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages Syncing content from the Zune client to the device MediaLibrary Playing or streaming media with the MediaElement API Playing media in the device Media Player Streaming media in Internet Explorer Mobile
WMV (VC-1, WMV9) – Advanced Profile This codec is unsupported in Windows Phone Emulator.	ASF (WMV)	WMA Standard v9 WMA 10 Professional	WMA Standard v9 Up to 2 Mbps avg video bit rate Up to 384 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels 800 x 600 pixels at 30 fps WMA 10 Professional Up to 2 Mbps avg video bit rate Up to 768 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 6 channels 800 x 600 pixels at 30 fps	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages Syncing content from the Zune client to the device MediaLibrary Playing or streaming media with the MediaElement API Playing media in the device Media Player
MPEG-4 Part 2 – Simple Profile This codec is unsupported in Windows Phone Emulator.	3GP, 3G2, MP4, M4V	AAC-LC	Up to 2 Mbps avg video bit rate Up to 27 Mbps peak video bit rate Up to 320 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels 800 x 600 pixels (1280 x 720 pixels for HD capture devices) at 30 fps	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages Syncing content from the Zune client to the device MediaLibrary (3GP and 3G2 are unsupported) Playing or streaming media with the MediaElement API Playing media in the device Media Player Streaming media in Internet Explorer Mobile Capturing video using the device camera (as an MP4 file). If the video resolution is 720p, it will be encoded as this codec type
MPEG-4 Part 2 – Advanced Simple Profile This codec is unsupported in Windows Phone Emulator.	MP4, M4V	AAC-LC	Up to 2 Mbps avg video bit rate Up to 27 Mbps peak video bit rate Up to 320 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels 800 x 600 pixels at 30 fps	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages Syncing content from the Zune client to the device MediaLibrary Playing or streaming media with the MediaElement API Playing media in the device Media Player Streaming media in Internet Explorer Mobile Capturing video using the device camera (as an MP4 file). If the video resolution is 720p, it will be encoded as this codec type
MPEG-4 Part 10 (MPEG-4 AVC, H.264) Level 3.0 – Baseline Profile This codec is unsupported in Windows Phone Emulator.	3GP, 3G2, MP4, M4V	AAC-LC HE-AAC v1 HE-AAC v2	AAC-LC Up to 2 Mbps avg video bit rate Up to 27 Mbps peak video bit rate Up to 320 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels 720 x 480 pixels at 30 fps 720 x 576 pixels at 25 fps HE-AAC v1 Up to 2 Mbps avg video bit rate Up to 27 Mbps peak video bit rate Up to 64 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels 720 x 480 pixels at 30 fps 720 x 576 pixels at 25 fps HE-AAC v2 Up to 2 Mbps avg video bit rate Up to 27 Mbps peak video bit rate Up to 48 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels 720 x 480 pixels at 30 fps 720 x 576 pixels at 25 fps	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages Syncing content from the Zune client to the device MediaLibrary (3GP and 3G2 are unsupported) Playing or streaming media with the MediaElement API Playing media in the device Media Player Streaming media in Internet Explorer Mobile Capturing video using the device camera (as an MP4 file). If the video resolution is any supported resolution less than 720p, it will be encoded as this codec type
MPEG-4 Part 10 (MPEG-4 AVC, H.264) Level 3.0 – Main Profile This codec is unsupported in Windows Phone Emulator.	3GP, 3G2, MP4, M4V	AAC-LC HE-AAC v1 HE-AAC v2	AAC-LC Up to 2 Mbps avg video bit rate Up to 27 Mbps peak video bit rate Up to 320 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels 720 x 480 pixels at 30 fps 720 x 576 pixels at 25 fps HE-AAC v1 Up to 2 Mbps avg video bit rate Up to 27 Mbps peak video bit rate Up to 64 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels 720 x 480 pixels at 30 fps 720 x 576 pixels at 25 fps HE-AAC v2 Up to 2 Mbps avg video bit rate Up to 27 Mbps peak video bit rate Up to 48 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels 720 x 480 pixels at 30 fps 720 x 576 pixels at 25 fps	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages Syncing content from the Zune client to the device MediaLibrary (3GP and 3G2 are unsupported) Playing or streaming media with the MediaElement API Playing media in the device Media Player Streaming media in Internet Explorer Mobile
MPEG-4 Part 10 (MPEG-4 AVC, H.264) Level 3.0 – High Profile This codec is unsupported in Windows Phone Emulator.	3GP, 3G2, MP4, M4V	AAC-LC HE-AAC v1 HE-AAC v2	AAC-LC Up to 2 Mbps avg video bit rate Up to 27 Mbps peak video bit rate Up to 320 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels 720 x 480 pixels at 30 fps 720 x 576 pixels at 25 fps HE-AAC v1 Up to 2 Mbps avg video bit rate Up to 27 Mbps peak video bit rate Up to 64 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels 720 x 480 pixels at 30 fps 720 x 576 pixels at 25 fps HE-AAC v2 Up to 2 Mbps avg video bit rate Up to 27 Mbps peak video bit rate Up to 48 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 48 kHz 1 or 2 channels 720 x 480 pixels at 30 fps 720 x 576 pixels at 25 fps	Receiving files as attachments in Email and MMS messages Playing or streaming media with the MediaElement API Playing media in the device Media Player Streaming media in Internet Explorer Mobile
H.263 This codec is unsupported in Windows Phone Emulator.	3GP, 3G2	AMR-NB	Up to 2 Mbps avg video bit rate Up to 12.2 Kbps Constant or variable bit rate Up to 8 kHz 1 or 2 channels 800 x 600 pixels at 30 fps	Receiving files as attachments in Email and MMS messages Playing media in the device Media Player Streaming media in Internet Explorer Mobile
JPEG	JPG	N/A	N/A	Sending and receiving pictures as attachments in email and MMS messages Viewing pictures from email or MMS messages Saving pictures from email or MMS messages to the device (saved to the device as JPG) Syncing content from the Zune client to the device MediaLibrary Capturing pictures using the device camera (saved to the device as JPG) Enumerating media from the MediaLibrary using the XNA Framework Viewing media in Internet Explorer Mobile Use as wallpaper Changing background of Pictures hub Uploading or sharing pictures to social networks Downloading pictures from social networks to the device
PNG	PNG	N/A	N/A	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages Viewing pictures from email or MMS messages Saving pictures from email or MMS messages to the device (saved to the device as JPG) Viewing media in Internet Explorer Mobile
GIF (both GIF87a and GIF89a)	GIF	N/A	N/A	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages Viewing pictures from email or MMS messages Saving pictures from email or MMS messages to the device (saved to the device as JPG) Viewing media in Internet Explorer Mobile
BMP	BMP	N/A	N/A	Receiving files as attachments in email and MMS messages Viewing pictures from email or MMS messages Saving pictures from email or MMS messages to the device (saved to the device as JPG) Viewing media in Internet Explorer Mobile
TIF	TIF	N/A	N/A	Receiving files as attachments in email Viewing pictures from email Saving single-page pictures from email to the device (saved to the device as JPG)