LRV file
Also known as: Low Resolution Video, .LRV, GoPro LRV
A low-resolution copy of a video clip that GoPro and Insta360 cameras record next to the full file, used for fast previews in the phone app.
Updated
What it means
An LRV file is a low-resolution copy of a video clip that the camera writes alongside the full-quality recording. The name stands for Low Resolution Video. GoPro creates one for every MP4 it records, and Insta360 cameras do the same; DJI uses a similar idea under the LRF extension on several models.
The point is speed. Streaming a 100 Mbps 4K file over the camera's Wi-Fi to a phone would be painfully slow, so the companion app plays the small LRV instead when you scroll through clips, trim a preview or share a quick cut. It is a convenience file, not a second version you are meant to keep.
How it works in practice
On a GoPro, the LRV sits in the same DCIM folder and shares the clip number with its source. GH010123.MP4 gets a partner called GL010123.LRV, and a THM thumbnail with the same number usually sits beside both. The LRV is H.264 at a low resolution, often in the 480p range on recent models, and weighs a small fraction of the original.
Because it is a normal video stream, renaming the extension to .mp4 lets most players open it. Some editors take advantage of that and use LRV files as ready-made proxies for proxy editing on a slow laptop, relinking to the full clips before export. If you only ever offload to a computer and edit the full clips, the LRV files can be skipped during import.
What to watch out for
The classic mistake is grabbing the wrong file. An LRV renamed to .mp4, or pulled off the card by a phone file manager, plays fine on a small screen, and nobody notices it is a blurry 480p clip until it lands in an edit next to real 4K footage. Check the resolution before you build anything on it.
The opposite problem appears with the camera apps. Deleting LRV files from the card while it is still in use can break thumbnails or Wi-Fi previews in the app, even though the main clips are intact. Clean them up after you have copied the card, not before, and keep the full-quality raw footage as your master.
How RawClip handles it
RawClip does not read LRV files and gains nothing from them, so leave them out of your upload. Send only the full-resolution MP4 or MOV clips; those carry the real 4K or 5.3K picture, and the finished highlight comes back in 4K and 1080p.