Files with the file extension RMVB are created by RealNetworks using the RealMedia multimedia compression format. This extension is used to store multimedia content locally on your PC as opposed to RealMedia container formats that are used for streaming multimedia from websites on the Internet.
RMVB stands for RealMedia Variable Bitrate which is an extension of the RealMedia compression format typically used for the distribution of Asian content. RMVB files commonly originate from Asian television programming and file sharing programs such as Gnutella and BitTorrent. This format often goes unrecognized by multimedia players and typically displays a message that says “This file type is not a valid file format.”
How to Open RMVB Files
RMVB files contain the RealMedia codec which uses X264 compression similar to MP4 codecs. This type of setup is limited on some media players and especially media players that are used with Windows. This includes RealPlayer 10 even when you include the corresponding DirectShow filter or Real Alternative. However, within the last few years a few media players have been designed to decode RMVB files and are gradually becoming available on the market for opening and playing RMVB files.
If you use the Windows operating system, you can open and play RMVB files by downloading the latest version of RealPlayer. Once you have installed the player, right click on the RMVB file you want to open and then choose Open With from the drop-down menu. Click on Browse and then locate the RealPlayer application and select it. Click on “Always use the selected program to open this kind of file.” The next time you open a RMVB file it will automatically default to RealPlayer.
For Mac OS X you should use RealPlayer 11 for Mac to open and play RMVB files. You simply download and install RealPlayer and then follow similar steps as described above to setting RealPlayer as the default for opening RMVB files.
If you use the Linux operating system, you can download and install RealPlayer for Linux by selecting the DEB package option, which is part of the Debian software package for Linux/Ubuntu. Once you have RealPlayer installed, right click on the file you want to open and choose “Open with RealPlayer.” This will set RealPlayer as the default application for opening this type of file. Each time you want to open a RMVB file in the future you can simply double-click on the file and RealPlayer will open it by default.
You can also choose to use a RMVB file converter to convert it to MPEG or AVI. This can be accomplished using any file conversion program that is designed to convert the RMVB format.
