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ATV2 + Plex + MLB.tv... Is It Possible?

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flatlandy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 17, 2008
19
0
I used to use a mac mini with plex and the MLB.TV plex plugin to watch all my baseball games. However, I no longer user my mini as a htpc.

I am now in the market for a streamer, but I need to be able to access MLB.TV streams. Boxee and Roku have this functionality built in. However, I would much rather stick with an Apple product, especially given how it may be able to use apps in the future.

I read a few comments back in November that stated that there was a plex update that allow video plugins to work (such as Hulu, ESPN, etc). What I have yet to see is if the MLB.TV plugin would work as well.

Does anyone know if this would work, or even better, does anyone have a setup that they could test and see if it works?

Any info is appreciated!
 
Unfortunately I don't have an answer, but I can provide you with some thoughts/info. I've messed around with Plex on ATV2 and it works pretty well, but I have had trouble with videos from the internet. Most of the time they just didn't play at all. You can put XBMC on the ATV2 and it seems to work better. However, from what I can tell it doesn't look like there is a stable plugin for either Plex or XBMC for MLB.tv.

However, tomorrow we might know more once Apple releases iOS 4.3. I have my fingers crossed that you'll be able to airplay MLB games from your iPhone or iPad directly to the AppleTV. If this turns out to be the case then this might be the route to go.

I know last year Roku had issues streaming MLB.tv games and everyone over there is hoping that the issues have been figured out. So even through Roku is an option, I'd be hesitant to drop $100+ on an MLB.tv subscription and then be frustrated with the stream buffering and dropping out.
 
uzzy said:
I know last year Roku had issues streaming MLB.tv games and everyone over there is hoping that the issues have been figured out. So even through Roku is an option, I'd be hesitant to drop $100+ on an MLB.tv subscription and then be frustrated with the stream buffering and dropping out.
Click to expand...

The Roku sure did have issues last year, and i'm hoping for better performance this time around. I'd like to try airplay from my phone to aTV also...BUT -

The $100 you'd drop will get you access to MLB.tv on your computer and i-device, the same account will allow Roku access...so it's not that hard to spend the money.

Roku runs $79 for a very good streaming box. I have two, along with 2 aTVs...they compliment each other nicely.
 
flatlandy said:
Does anyone know if this would work, or even better, does anyone have a setup that they could test and see if it works?

Any info is appreciated!
Click to expand...

The Plex setup with an aTV 2 is a lot like Playon and other transcoding setups - you have to run a computer with the server side that will do all of the heavy lifting to transcode the stream, then the Plex client on your jailbroken aTV will accept that stream and display it.

I like it in theory - in practice (even with very good hardware and a 5Ghz only LAN) it's *meh*.

Transcodes tend to stutter and the colors are washed out on my widescreen TVs - just my experience, YMMV.

I'm no schill for Roku, but having tried a lot of things to avoid paying $200 a year for the cable TV baseball package i've come to feel they're the best game in town.
 
Just a heads up, today MLB At Bat had an update and one of the things listed in the notes was "Compatibility across all iOS devices." I agree we won't know for sure until 4.3 comes out for ATV2 AND iPhone but it seems promising.
 
Thanks for the info!

I had read about the idea of using AirPlay in conjunction with MLB.TV, but read it was currently limited to audio only (or something similar). Hopefully iOS 4.3 and the MLB App will allow for video! Would certainly be an interesting solution.

The only concern I would have with this is what the quality of the stream is provided to the app. I believe they use NexDEF plugin for the computer flash stream, which bumps up the quality. Not sure if they will provide a high enough quality stream so that it is good enough for tv viewing.

Also, thanks for the heads up on the problems that Roku encountered with MLB.TV. I was unaware of these issues and would have been pretty upset come opening day to find out that the sole purpose of the device (for me at least) does not work.

Im in the same boat. $200+ per year for me to watch one team is ridiculous. My mac mini setup worked great for me last year and I am just hoping I can find a good solution for this year.
 
I agree with cdavis11 that the Roku is a very good streaming box and I have one as well. I just wanted to point out that there were issues with MLB last year with Roku. However, it sounds like the NHL version is better so there is hope that this years MLB will be better.
 
circusbass said:
Just a heads up, today MLB At Bat had an update and one of the things listed in the notes was "Compatibility across all iOS devices." I agree we won't know for sure until 4.3 comes out for ATV2 AND iPhone but it seems promising.
Click to expand...

doesn't work. i have 4.3 gm on iphone and 4.3 on apple tv,, downloaded the mlb update and still now video airplaying.
 
Tsac77 said:
Is the ATV software update that allows this already released?
Click to expand...

I don't think so. Apparently, MLB.TV is going to show up as a separate pick off the home screen (probably under "Internet", like Netflix). No AirPlay is involved. MLB.TV will stream directly to the ATV2.
 
I guess Steve Jobs read my post! Nah, this turned out to be the best option that i didnt think would happen!

So excited!
 
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