What’s M3U8 ?
M3U8 file is an ‘extensible playlist’ file format. It is basically a playlist containing UTF-8 encoded text that points at video files. These files are used by a variety of media applications and online radio stations. These files contain a playlist of songs including the names of the songs and the song locations. These files do not contain any actual audio data. M3U8 files are stored in a plain-text format. Files with the .m3u8 extension are a unicode version of the M3U file format.
How to Open an M3U8 File
The easiest way to open an M3U8 file is to double-click on it and let your PC decide which default application should open the file.
M3U8 files can be opened with Apple’s iTunes program, Windows Media Player, as well as other media player and media management software programs.
Programs that open M3U8 files on main operating system:
Windows: Apple iTunes, Microsoft Windows Media Player, VideoLAN VLC Media Player
Mac: Apple iTunes, VideoLAN VLC Media Player
Linux: Videolan VLC Media Player
iOS: Videolan VLC Media Player
Android: Videolan VLC Media Player
In the following table, you can find a list of programs that can open files with .m3u8 extension.This list is created by collecting extension information reported by users through the ‘send report’ option of FileTypesMan utility.
The product name, description, and company name are taken from the version information of the .exe file.The ‘Actions’ list is taken from the context menu items added to Explorer by the specified program.The ‘Popularity’ column displays one of the following 4 values: Low, Medium, High, and Very High, which is determined according to the number of users that sent the specified record.
EXE Name | Product Name | Description | Company | Actions | Popularity |
AIMP3.exe | AIMP3 | AIMP3 | AIMP DevTeam | open | Low |
amp.exe | Add to FLV and Media Player’s Playlist, Play, Play with FLV and Media Player | Low | |||
foobar2000.exe | foobar2000 Application | foobar2000 | Enqueue in foobar2000, Open in foobar2000, Play in foobar2000 | Medium | |
iTunes.exe | iTunes | iTunes | Apple Inc. | Open, Play | Very High |
MC19.exe | JRiver Media Center 19 | JRiver Media Center 19 | JRiver, Inc. | open, Play in Media Center | Low |
mpc-hc.exe | Media Player Classic – Home Cinema | Media Player Classic – Home Cinema | MPC-HC Team | open | Low |
MPC-HC.exe | MPC-HC | MPC-HC | MPC-HC Team | open | Low |
mpc-hc.exe | open | Low | |||
Spider.exe | Spider Player | Spider Player | VIT Software, LLC | open | Low |
vlc.exe | VLC media player | VLC media player | the VideoLAN Team | Add to VLC media player’s Playlist, Play, Play with VLC media player | Very High |
vlc.exe | VLC media player | the VideoLAN Team | Add to VLC media player’s Playlist, Play with VLC media player | Low | |
winamp.exe | Winamp | Winamp | Nullsoft | Enqueue in Winamp, Enqueue Play in Winamp, Add to Winamp’s Bookmark list, open, Play in Winamp, Add to Winamp’s Media Library | Very High |
In the following table, you can find a list of file types information that is associated with .m3u8 extension.
Type Name | Description | Perceived Type | ContentType | DLL/EXE File | DLL/EXE Details | Popularity |
Playlist | text | audio/x-mpegurl | Low | |||
AIMP.m3u8 | AIMP3: M3U (Unicoded) Playlist | aimp_icons.dll | Low | |||
ApplianMP.m3u8 | FLV and Media Player media file (.m3u8) | Low | ||||
foobar2000.M3U8 | Playlist | Low | ||||
iTunes.m3u8 | M3U Audio Playlist (UTF-8) | text | audio/x-mpegurl | iTunes.exe | iTunes, Apple Inc. | Very High |
iTunes.m3u8 | text | audio/x-mpegurl | Low | |||
iTunes.m3u8 | Lista de Áudio M3U (UTF-8) | text | audio/x-mpegurl | iTunes.exe | iTunes, Apple Inc. | Low |
m3u8_auto_file | Low | |||||
MediaCenter.19.File | Media Center file | text | audio/x-mpegurl | Low | ||
mplayerc.m3u8 | Playlist | mpc-hc.exe | Media Player Classic – Home Cinema, MPC-HC Team | Low | ||
mplayerc.m3u8 | Wiedergabeliste | Low | ||||
mplayerc64.m3u8 | AIMP3: M3U (Unicoded) Playlist | audio | audio/x-mpegurl | Symbolic_Ho.dll | Low | |
PotPlayerMini64.M3U8 | Playlist | Low | ||||
Spider.Player.M3U8 | Spider Player audio file (M3U8) | Low | ||||
VLC.m3u8 | AIMP3: M3U (Unicoded) Playlist | aimp_icons.dll | Low | |||
VLC.m3u8 | Winamp playlist file | winamp.exe | Winamp, Nullsoft, Inc. | Low | ||
VLC.m3u8 | VLC media file (.m3u8) | vlc.exe | VLC media player, the VideoLAN Team | Very High | ||
Winamp.PlayList | Winamp playlist file | winamp.exe | Winamp, Nullsoft | Very High | ||
Winamp.PlayList | Winamp Wiedergabeliste | winamp.exe | Winamp, Nullsoft, Inc. | Low | ||
Winamp.PlayList | Archivo de lista de Winamp | winamp.exe | Winamp, Nullsoft, Inc. | Low | ||
Winamp.PlayList | text | audio/x-mpegurl | Low |
How to Convert an M3U8 File
There are two main ways to attempt to convert an M3U8 file to another file type:
a. Open the M3U8 file in its default program and choose to save the open file as another file format.
b. Use a File Conversion Online Service or Software Program to convert the M3U8 file to another file format.
How to Encode Videos to M3U8
Just like the new H.265/HEVC codec, M3U8 also has its own advantages:
1. It can be dragged to any point correctly if you want to enjoy on your m3u8 players immediately fast because of no extra data.
2.It will be played with Apple’s built-in player like Quicktime and Safari.
3. The player will ensure smooth m3u8 playback without interruption of network speed and resolution when playback.
Using an M3U8 Converter thus offers a neat advantage for both video producers and video consumers who will certainly be wowed. This is great news for producers of video who want to maximize quality and minimize costs. Online commercial distribution of video will certainly be less expensive on the storage side and highly interesting in terms of video supply variety, especially for businesses offering video-on-demand services. Here we strongly recommend Pavtube Video Converter / Mac Version, which is a top-ranked M3U8 Converter.
It enables users to convert any video format MOV, MKV, FLV, M4V, WMV, MPG, 3GP to M3U8 with original quality kept. What’s more, it has built-in optimized profiles for popular devices iPad, iPhone, Galaxy tablets/phones, Surface tablets and more. Thanks to the built-in video editor, you can personalize and retouch your videos in clicks.
Good news: Pavtube Studio announced all Pavtube Windows products including BDMagic, ByteCopy, DVDAid, Video Converter Ultimate, Video Converter, HD Video Converter, MTS/M2TS Converter Converter, MXF Converter, MXF MultiMix and Mac OS products: BDMagic for Mac,ByteCopy for Mac, DVDAid for Mac, iMedia Converter for Mac, Video Converter for Mac, HD Video Converter for Mac, MTS/M2TS Converter for Mac,MXF Converter for Mac, iMixMXF. New elements for M3U8 encoding are added into full line of Pavtube products. Registered users could download and install the latest version for solution to their issues.