MLB TV Picture Quality

Came to this site to see if anyone else has been having problems with ATV2 and MLB. After blaming everybody but ATV I finally decided to see how the game was on my iMac and discovered that I get great HD reception on my iMac and the problem is the ATV2. I have run it WiFi and ethernet and there is no difference in the ATV performance. The picture will pixelate, freeze, and sometimes completely jump out of MLB but the reception on the iMac is rock solid. I've removed everything but the ATV and the ATV still messes up. Waiting for the update. The quality of MLB on ATV ranges from mildly annoying to completely unwatchable. By that I mean picture freezes up about every 30 seconds. It's like the ATV is performing some other operation in the background and it's just not compatible with ATV. Apple please fix this.

I think the drop off in coments is due to people simply giving up and accepting the fact that MLB.TV on Apple TV is terrible. There has been no improvement for me. Watched a game last night that was mostly pixelated, constantly stalled, and frequently crashed back out to the Apple TV main screen. I'm personally looking for a used Mac Mini since MLB.TV plays fine on my MacBook Pro and iMac, neither of which I want to connect to my TV though.

@ Tofupants: As you have read the beginning of this thread, you noted that I and others were complained about the same lousy reception problems you have with MLB on ATV. Eventaully, the problems were remedy (and the complaints seem to disappear. Now, it seems that the problems have recurred but only for some, who seem to be new subscribers to the MLB - and perhaps new ATV users. So, perhaps, the problem is related to one initiating the the MLB subscription on ATV?

I know the frustration of freezing and pixilating, but they (Thankfully) have not returned since the start of last season. Indeed, I remarked last evening on fine the streaming.

I have not any idea whether this will help you: Some where along the frutration way, Apple Care suggested rebooting the ATV/TV connection by unplugging the HDMI cable - pausing for a time - and then repluging it.

While I have MLB available via my ATV2, I probably watch MLB over 50% of my viewing time on my computer via MLB.com. Lately I've noticed that my internet streaming is getting slower and slower. Today I went into Utilities/Airport Utility and chenged my home wireless from 2 Ghz to 5 Ghz because of possible interference with my BT mouse.

While it's too soon to say definitely, the change appears to have enhansed my streaming performance a lot.

I agree with this entire 2 year long thread. Until MLB and Apple fix this there is a not so perfect work around.

I use my iPad to stream MLBTV on AtBat and Airstream to my ATV. Much better quality than direct streaming to the AppleTV.

I just posted something similar. For me it seems to have only gotten horrible in the last week or so (I was thinking it was somehow related to the Apple TV update but maybe I wasn't watching enough last week via Apple TV to catch when it started accurately). At any rate, it is unbelievable. In the past it would usually "work itself out" after a minute or two and then remain relatively stable. Now it starts off poor and only gets worse. I am also just watching via the iPad and Airplay. It looks fine and works but it does **** me off that I have to do that. What is the point of the service if it doesn't work? MLB does not seem interested and Apple certainly doesn't pipe in on these threads typically so they can't be too concerned either. Very annoying.

After a complete restore of the Apple TV there's been no improvement.

An interesting comparison is to watch the NBA Game Highlights and then compare those to the MLB Game Recaps. The NBA content looks amazing. MLB is complete crap. This would indicate there's something fundamentally different about the stream MLB is sending to the ATV vs. the stream that the NBA is using.

Anyway... Still disappointed.

Last year I watched MLB.tv on my Roku. The picture quality was great but the hardware was crap--kept freezing, even after I replaced it through warranty. This year was the same problem.

Now, I have an Apple TV. It's far more reliable/less buggy, but the picture quality is rarely HD. Despite the bugs on my Roku, when the picture comes in it does come in with fantastic quality.

I guess I can't really have it both ways, unless I want to hook up my laptop to the screen. But, I don't like tying up my computer just to watch the game. That's what I got the box for!

Very disappointed so far.

Unforuately quailty isnt great with MLB on the appleTV(2). I have had it over a year now and its still disappointing especially now that i own a iPad(3) and MLB at Bat is almost perfect on it. Its not unwatchable or anything but u can definately tell that your not watching your normal HDTV etc (which is the opposite on the iPad!) Ive never been able to watch for long without some kind of a "glitch."

Guess this leads me to believe that in fact it is the appletv that is the problem. Its still quite choppy and if you need to pause or rewind it usually stalls and thats frustrating. I dont know why you cant get true live DVR controls either but guess thats a solution that I wouldnt know how to go about fixing. And why is it so clumsy to go from one game to another (on the ipad its a breeze).

Curious if anyone that has the newest appleTV version 3 is having better results? I also hate the fact that if I want to "click" over to check say espn on my dierctv etc the apple tv will not just keep playing the game like it disconnects or something just because Ive switched over but thats probably for another thread. If anyone knows a solution to this please advise.