Level 1

11 points

MLB TV Picture Quality

After yesterday's announcement, I excitedly ordered MLB.TV to watch on my AppleTV 2nd Gen.

Picture quality was a disappointment. Watched 2 spring training games. Detail was very poor, even on a game that was widescreen (presumably HD?). Motion is very stuttery, as if the frame rate is low.

My downstream bandwidth exceeds 17Mbps, and Netflix and Apple rentals work fine.

Anyone else tried it yet?

BTW: MLB.TV says it can be cancelled "at any time", but the fine print says you can only get a refund in the first 5 days!

Posted on Mar 10, 2011 6:30 AM

Top-ranking reply

theroys88

Level 1

0 points

Posted on Apr 2, 2011 7:11 PM

The reason the quality of the picture is not comparable to Sat or cable is that those services stream those games with a bitrate ranges from 16-91mpbs/second. MLBTV maximum bitrate which is stated on their website is 3mpbs/second. With those low bit rates you will see a highly compressed signal. I am having similiar video and audio issue with choppy audio and video. This atop the compression artifacts that jump at you with any fast motion. These streams have 5 to 6 times the compression as a sat or cable HD feed. **** a standard dvd has a bit rate of 6-8mpbs. Have called MLBTV and the level 2 tech agreed and told me that the current bit rates were designed for computer streaming and not large screen HDTV sets. Received a email from MLBTV stating they are currently working on raising bit rates for streaming devices. I would encourage everyone who is not happy with the servicce to call MLBTV and complain about the low bit rates. State my numbers to them. I have called several times and no tech has argued that I was wrong. They all agreed and apologized. I can tell you that the audio and video choppyness that I am experiencing is a MLBTV app PS3 issue. I can stream MLBTV through Playon and the stream is clean. Only 480p and still full of compression artifacts but no audio or video stuttering.

View in context

187 replies

Mar 12, 2011 10:49 AM in response to caa100

I just bought an AppleTV specifically to watch the baseball games on my tv instead of on my computer. I have had mlb.tv for about 5 years. SO far, the quality on the AppleTV is better than what I have had on my computer in past years. Detail is fine for me, and frame rate seems to be fine to me as well. My downstream maxes out at 6Mbps, but I doubt it ever reaches that. Either our standards are different, or something is wrong with your stream.

jiminoz

Level 1

0 points

Mar 22, 2011 8:31 PM in response to caa100

I have had mlb.com for the past four years. This year I bought an Apple TV and the quality is quite impressive; not as good as a broadcast HD channel, but very good for an internet stream with no stuttering.

Mar 31, 2011 3:16 PM in response to caa100

im disappointed i canceled extra innings on directv for mlb on my apple tv and quality is not there. it looks 1000 times better on my laptop then thru apple tv why is that when its same bandwidth? hope it improves but not holding my breath...any suggestions?

Apr 1, 2011 4:44 PM in response to BrianNW

Well at this point I dont know what else to do except maybe return it (even tho Ive been very pleased with Apple TV until now) I cant imagine an update fixing anything so quickly if they even acknowledge there is a problem in the first place. Im still waiting to here back from MLB support. Good thing there is a free preview of Extra Innings on DirecTV this week...PLEASE Apple fix this problem Thank you.

Atavist

Level 1

5 points

Apr 1, 2011 8:30 PM in response to caa100

Bought my ATV on Tuesday and returned it for an exchange today. The "Genius" tried to tell me that its was a problem with my "network." I explaned that I was getting flawless reception on my MB, but not via ATV.

I surmise from my exchange that Apple probably knows that there's something wrong. Why? I asked if they were not going to test my returned unit for a defect, and she respond not- flippantly that <paraphrasing> they would just toss it. I would expect the if a client were to return a product claiming it was defective hardware or erroneous software, Apple would want to know, and would test to see if so; but not. From her casual response to my query it seemed to me that apparently Apple expects a certain number of defective returns and just tosses them out, without acknowledging anything is amiss with the product.

Will report performance after installation.

Message was edited by: Atavist

Klon99

Level 1

8 points

Apr 1, 2011 8:33 PM in response to caa100

Hey Guys,

Extra .02

I just ordered the High end rook from amazon. I am getting it on Monday. I should have went with the Rouk as I am a amazon prime member and get access to all those unlimited movies. Once I hook it up Monday I will let you know the results. If it works, say goodbye to the AppleTV

J

Apr 2, 2011 5:53 AM in response to caa100

when I pointed out in the MLB.tv support forums that netflix will stream without issue for me over WiFi to my ATV2 the "forum administrator" that replied actually had the nerve to say "netflix is different from a live stream"...

Macaby

Level 3

923 points

Apr 2, 2011 5:20 PM in response to tipsymcstaggers

tipsymcstaggers wrote:
I will say that the issues I'm having absolutely DO make it unwatchable, without a doubt. At least every minute the video will hang for 10-20 seconds at a time....very frustrating.

If that's what you're getting, I wouldn't watch it either. I'm not getting any of that. What I do get is intermittent pixilation which only happens occasionally.

Atavist

Level 1

5 points

Apr 2, 2011 8:11 PM in response to Macaby

Macaby wrote:
First, I would like to state again that MLB on ATV2 works for me. For someone to say that it's UNWATCHABLE is way over the top. That said...

Sincerely, my thought standard in judging the "unwatchableness" of MLB.TV on Apple TV, while walking out of the room: +"I'd rather 'watch' on the radio." underlying that judgment concerns a personal matter - the manner I prefer to enjoy baseball. So, for me, "unwatchable" is determined by the "eye" of the viewer. And so, I thought it unwatchable." We could quibble, but why bother?

Apr 3, 2011 11:40 AM in response to caa100

Trying to watch this game on Apple TV and dealing with a frozen screen every 5-10 seconds. I tried rewinding the stream (I'm about 30 minutes behind "live") and the stream freezes during the same part of the game each time. So if I miss a stolen base because the screen was frozen, everytime I try to rewatch the stolen base, it freezes in the same place.

It seems like it's not a streaming issue then, but something with either the encode (not likely if it plays fine on the computer) or how the ATV plays backs the video, which is unfortunately very easy to believe...

Anyone else notice this?

Atavist

Level 1

5 points

Apr 4, 2011 10:56 AM in response to Macaby

Macaby wrote:
. . . I realize both signals came down the same Qwest DSL pipe, but 30 seconds seems to be a huge difference.

I recall that on Thursday an inning was beginning on the the net cast via my MB while the the previous inning ended and went to commercial break on ATV. It's reassuring that it appears that MLB is working on the problems raised here. (One supposes they didn't know what MLB.TV on ATV would be until it was net cast indeed?

Ex-Innings vs. MLB.TV?: MLB.TV plays home and away - is portable via portable devices - and Ex-I doesn't "play on the away" (without "Sling Box"?), plus the MLB.TV premium functions can be accessed on computer and portable devices (though not on ATV), nonesuch on Ex-I save for rewinding and pausing.

Atavist

Level 1

5 points

Apr 4, 2011 2:43 PM in response to Matt Larson2

Matt Larson2 wrote:
MLB has a user forum with official moderators if you are interested:

Thanks, but the links are threads, which posts did you wish to reference?

Well, one step forward and one step backward. With one game on now - Tigers/Orioles: It's as bad as last week: bad pixilation and frequent freezes on both my Apple TV and MacBook, which had been flawless.

!@#$%^&*

Apr 4, 2011 3:08 PM in response to Atavist

Atavist wrote::
Thanks, but the links are threads, which posts did you wish to reference?

I was just giving links to the relevant threads, feel free to make your own posts if you like.

I did leave this message:
http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&webtag=ml-help01&tid=754 6

pako_t

Level 1

0 points

Apr 4, 2011 7:11 PM in response to caa100

Now Im watchin Seattle vs Texas, It's a very good quality, i think it's the best quality game what i've watched since the season starts, I watched too twins-yankees and it wasnt the same qualy, My internet is 5mb, I'm at México

jeffpdx

Level 1

0 points

Apr 5, 2011 8:43 PM in response to caa100

mlb tv freezes up on me all the time. it streams perfectly on my macbook. i really want apple or mlb tv to do something about this. i just wanted to make some noise so that maybe this can be fixed.

go cubs!

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MLB TV Picture Quality