Is there a picture quality difference between mlb.tv and mlb.tv premium?

by Scottbass on Feb 14, 2007 5:49 PM PST Comment 16 comments

I just checked out mlb.tv and am going to buy it again this year, a must-have for any out of town A's fan. I noticed that the premium option ($119) says picture quality is "twice as good as last season - video speed up to 700k." The regular mlb.tv option ($89) says "video stream speed 400k."

However, just below that under Available 2007 Options, it says "April to September, watch and listen to every out-of-market game live (up to 700k)." It says the exact same thing under Available 2007 Options on the premium page as well. I'm totally confused. If the premium site offers better quality, it's a no-brainer. But it seems like the only difference is the addition on mlb.tv mosaic. That hardly seems worth the extra 30 bones. If anyone can tell me the real difference, I'd appreciate it.

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There is a comparison of products page

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions/compare.jsp?c_id=mlb

I'd say that yes the quality on the premium is better, Sadly for folks like me with primitive and expensive broadband, I will stick with basic.

Bandwidth and Mosaic though appear to be the only differences between the 2. Neither is hi-def or anything like that though

Cheers - TC

by onlysaying on Feb 14, 2007 6:06 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Ok, but what about

where it says prem and basic offer the games "up to 700k" (on each individual page, not the compare page) under the avail 2007 options? Is that just a matter of mlb (being lazy and) saving time by making one list and copying it to both pages?

Also, I have cable internet. Does that make it to 700k, or would basic be better? I got the faster of the two options when I bought it but I don't remember what the speed was. Sorry, don't mean to be dense. Thanks for the info though.

by Scottbass on Feb 14, 2007 6:47 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, the individual pages are sloppy

Based on the compare page, it seems clear that you need to pay the extra $30 if you want the 700k.

You should be fine with your cable service...although to be sure, run a bandwidth test. Here's one, and you can Google "bandwidth test" to find some others.

by cynthia2003 on Feb 14, 2007 7:06 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks

I ran the bandwith test and it looks like premium it is. I thought the screen was terrible last season until I remembered I hadn't watch any A's games (except against the Angels and national games) since early '02. A grainy screen beats Gameday any day of the week.

by Scottbass on Feb 15, 2007 2:10 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

1279.8!

Now if only I lived far enough away that I could get the A's games on MLB.tv or close enough that I got them on cable ...

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by devo on Feb 15, 2007 9:27 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

i just moved out of the area

and now that I don't get fsn bay area I'm looking into mlb.tv and so far I'm pretty disappointed because I'm used to tv quality and the quality on my computer screen is quite crap. I demo-ed the premium one and when I made it full screen it was quite terrible. I'm not sure if I'm going to get the reg. or premium now.

"Dick Cheney sitting down with Fox News is like Mrs. Butterworth sitting down with the Pancake Channel." -Jimmy Kimmel. (TRADE HARDEN FOR KAZMIR IN '07!)

by Christine on Feb 14, 2007 7:14 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

where

did you find the demo ? thanks

"Even if you know the deck is stacked in your favor, you still have to have the discipline to trust the math and the cojones to go to the ATM." BB

by green star oakland on Feb 14, 2007 7:27 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I'll help...Go to "See 700k demo"...

...on the right side of this page. Warning: the announcers on the clip are Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

by cynthia2003 on Feb 14, 2007 7:46 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

the 700k bump is nice but...

It's not great but the 700k is a lot better than what they've had in the past.

My main complaint is that the service could be spotty at times last year. Sometimes their servers would be slow and I would get buffering. They'd better be planning to upgrade their network. Also, I would sometimes need to refresh the player a bunch of times for the feeds to come through.

MLB TV still doesn't compare to tuning into FSN or KICU, but I guess it's pretty good from 2 thousand of miles away.

by panchopunch on Feb 14, 2007 8:40 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Gad, decision time coming up.

rip 2006, it was nice while it lasted.

by ak_A on Feb 14, 2007 8:34 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

One more thought from me

I live in Oakland, alaska A, so A's games are not a problem for me, I have bought Extra Innings to follow the rest of the AL and especially our AL West competitors.

Regarding Christine's point about the picture quality in full screen mode: Well it definitely is terrible when I'm sitting at my desk with the monitor a foot in front of my face, but then I get that same effect when I stand right in front of my hi-def TV set. Backing off about 12 feet or so (i.e. couch distance), the picture quality of the 700k feed at full screen dimensions is pretty darned decent. And I'm watching on a crappy old 17" Sony Trinitron CRT which desperately needs replacing.

I'm still hoping for the DirecTV deal to fall through so that I can buy EI through Comcast, but that appearing unlikely, this 700k MLB.TV feed at full screen size (on a better monitor than what I have now) is probably a palatable option.

by cynthia2003 on Feb 14, 2007 8:45 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

so noted,

I have noticed that effect somewhat in the regular mlbtv package i have gotten and viewed on my pc and now mac since 2004. And I got a bit confused reading the mlb package options between the premium with the 700K seemingly the regular one either 400 or 700k depending how you read it. I may try a month of each to start out instead of the full meal deal from the get go.

Though I do enjoy at time, being close to the mac screen with a split screen to track and post on AN and try not to flip out too much at nico's posts.

rip 2006, it was nice while it lasted.

by ak_A on Feb 14, 2007 10:13 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Another point ...

have you ever noticed how crappy no HD programs look on HD TVs? Way, way worse than they do on regular TVs, in my opinion.

Computer monitors are like HD TVs -- they make it very, very clear that the picture you're watching (like the one on your regular TV) is a little blurry.

I had the service in 2003, the first year it existed and my last spring in college. I plugged my computer into my TV and watched the games on the TV (27"). The quality was perfectly fine.

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by devo on Feb 15, 2007 9:38 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

my boss has two HD tvs. The one from three years ago doesn't look bad at all on regular tv. It's a plasma. The one he got last year (I guess it's LCD) looks a little better on HD, but terrible on most regular channels.

by Scottbass on Feb 15, 2007 12:48 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

slightly off topic question

and very unlikely, but is Gameday Audio subject to black out in any way?

"The future's like, who cares?" ~Eric Chavez

by rebus on Feb 14, 2007 11:21 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

It never has been before...

It streams the regular radio broadcasts... you can choose either the home team's station or the away team's station, so you can still get Korach & Cotroneo for every game (I think there's also a Spanish broadcast option for some games).

btw, I live & work on the Peninsula, so I'm well within the gigantic blackout-hole for mlb.tv -- has never applied to Gameday Audio.

I got tired of my last signature. Quick, somebody inspire me.

by Poppy on Feb 15, 2007 7:04 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs