VC-1 is the informal name of the draft SMPTE standard describing a video codec based on Microsoft Windows Media Video version 9.

It is an evolution of the conventional DCT-based video codec design also found in H.261, H.263, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4. It is widely characterized as an alternative to the latest ITU-T and MPEG video codec standard known as H.264 (a.k.a. AVC a.k.a. MPEG-4 Part 10).