MLB's HD Video Using 3MB Stream, H.264, Full 720p At 1280x720

MLB.com just went live with their new 2009 MLB.TV media player and is showcasing for free their newly improved HD video stream and improved player controls. The streaming is being done using H.264 and the HD feed is a true 720p at 1280x720. They are using adaptive bitrate encoding ranging from as low as 164K to 3MB for the HD feed. The quality looks good at full screen, but I am seeing some pixelation with the 3MB stream. 

The adaptive bitrate stream, using the MLB next def plugin, uses HTTP and pulls from multiple CDNs. This is being delivered from at least Akamai and Limelight with Akamai delivering the non adaptive bitrate stream by themselves.

The new player has a nice clean layout and changing from SD to HD is very easy by using the "video quality" setting in the player. Changing from SD to HD for me was very quick with a lag of about two seconds. If you are checking out the stream now and are having audio problems, like I am, the audio feed from YES is having problems, not MLB. So we'll have to give that some time to clear up.

The DVR like functionality of the player works great, with the ability to pause the stream and then pick it back up with absolutely no lag at all. Very nice. Overall, the kind of high quality player I would expect to see from MLB. I'd like to see the video quality a bit better at 3MB and will have to reevaluate the player when it's out of beta and when the audio is working properly. Stinks that the first game MLB uses as the test and the main audio feed from the broadcast is screwed up. There are only so many things MLB can control and the audio from the YES network is not one of them.

The one thing not working for me is the picture in picture. I can't get another game to load in the second window, but I don't know if that option is available today or not. There is another game going on now in MLB TV should it should be loading. Update: MLB said, "we haven't launched real-time highlights or made multiple games available" so the picture in picture functionality can't be seen yet.

Comments

[HmmConvenient]

Honestly have to say - doesn't look like "HD" to me. It's funny how we all get hung up on bitrate, etc. -- 3 megabit in this product doesn't look as good as say what others are doing at a fraction of the rate.

[Nagesh C]

It is great to see online video get better and better, and I applaud what MLB has done here, although it looks a bit too ambitious. I also don't think it makes sense to call it HD if you do adapative streaming with bit-rates as low as 160k - you'll undoubtedly see quality issues. The proof is in the pudding, so if they are able to delivery a great user experience with a very responsive playback/controls, it will be a good model for others. Will be interesting to see a fuller review/analysis.

[Christopher Levy]

Hey Dan!

For those of us who aren't members, what technology are they using for this offering?

[Chuck]

Unfortunately, MLB Advanced Media is unable to really provide this service on a consistent basis. Already this week there have been three separate nights where NEXT DEF HD streaming has been unavailable. Last night there was a period where none of the games were available in the premium streaming mode.

It is great for web sites like yours to pipe the horn for MLB and this technology, but you should actually follow up and question how well it is working. The answer is -- not very well. It is already one month into the baseball season and the 2009 Next Def solution is plagued with problems.

Chuck http://www.giveusbaseball.com

[Dan Rayburn]

Chuck, the question is "plagued with problems for how many users"? Still, I have not had a single problem with my streams. With any streaming product like this, a certain percentage of users are going to have problems, this is not TV. What is the percentage of users who have problems? If it is less than 1% as MLB says, and I have no way to verify this, then to me, that's not that big of a problem. Yes, it does stink for people like you who are having issues, but this happens each year as this technology is not foolproof for 100% of the users like a TV set is.

[Chuck]

Were you watching any games using Next Def last night between 10PM and 11PM EST? Were you watching the Red Sox game on May 5th when the NESN feed was available only in "normal" mode, not Next Def? The list could go on and on. These are global issues affecting all users of MLB.TV. Just because only 1% of users might complain, doesn't mean that others aren't affected. Not only do these Next Def outages affect the live broadcast, but the archived game is affected as well.

I don't have cable television and MLB.TV is on my computer every night. I see the issues and I read nearly every message that passes through the MLB.TV support forum (as sad as that sounds). Someone who tunes into MLB.TV a couple of times a week to watch one game will not experience the outages that a more regular user will, but that doesn't excuse MLB AM from providing a service that works 99.99% for 100% of its users. That is a common service level agreement for any IT service.

The fact is that MLB AM has entered a contract with users to provide a service. If there are issues providing that service, then MLB AM needs to own up to the issue, communicate with users and fix it within a stated time line. I work in IT for one of the biggest companies out there. If MLB AM didn't have a monopoly on baseball, there would be no way it could treat it's customer base with this lack of regard. What about the features that MLB AM sold as part of the product that they haven't even delivered? Does that only affect 1% of the users?

Chuck
http://www.giveusbaseball.com

[Dan Rayburn]

When the season kicked off, I was watching games that users said were not working for them, but I am not a heavy user of the system. Yes, MLB did advertise some functionality that I have yet to see them fully enable, but they said a second roll out of the player would fix that, but didn't say by when. If you feel that is not good enough, then by all means demand a refund or partial credit. I can understand being upset if your expectations were not set correctly. If you are having a lot of problems, then I'm sure MLB would issue you a credit. If not, I would call your credit card company and dispute the charge. I would hope that is not what MLB would force you to do, but if they won't own up to the problems some people are having by issuing partial credits, then you need to make sure you take matters into your own hands and get a credit.

[Chuck]

Thanks for listening to me gripe. In reality it is only baseball and I am only playing David to a random Goliath. There are a lot more serious issues in the world.

Have a good one!

Chuck

[HD TV]

I don't care what's the website like. The speed and clarity are the first thing I consider to accept it. If it really can achieve its target, I'd like to try. After all, the big problem of the internet Tv is we can't see TV synchronously

[lausanne cinéma]

MLB TV is great. I am using it for years now...