MLB.TV Mosaic Blog

Mosaic Update: New Build

2008-04-08T22:51:29Z

We released a new build this afternoon that addresses the following:

-Additional performance/memory usage optimization

-Bug fixes for users on Vista related to file permissions

-Functional/cosmetic updates for smoother experience

-Added option to disable alerts

-Installer updates to utilize the latest NexDef software

We are still working on the intermittent issues that a few of you have reported with the 1.2 megabit streams, but believe that the NexDef updates may resolve this in the latest version. We're very curious to hear your feedback. For the quickest response, please head over to our Support Forum.

Thanks again,

Justin

Clarification regarding Silverlight

2008-04-05T00:06:14Z

For clarification's sake, as we've had some confusion about the technology used on our various products this week, I thought I'd post the following. MLB.TV Mosaic users have been facing issues this week which have now been largely resolved. We're aware that some of you are still seeing intermittent issues, and are working down the list to try to get to you all. The best way to get support on your individual issues is in the Support Forum. In several instances these issues have been erroneously connected to Microsoft's Silverlight plug-in. MLB.TV offers three different download options for its subscribers to view content, one of which utilizes Silverlight (for a side by side view, please visit: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions/download.jsp). The issues being reported and addressed here are associated with the MLB.TV Mosaic, which does not use Silverlight. Microsoft is currently engaging with MLB.com to ensure the Silverlight platform delivers the functionality MLB users expect for our web based MLB.TV product, as opposed to the MLB.TV Mosaic, which we work on with another partner.

New Mosaic Build

2008-04-04T17:50:44Z

We just released a new version of the Mosaic, which addresses a number of things.

-Game state transitions from pre to live to archive mode.

-Memory and performance optimization on PC and Mac

-Alerts/Player tracker updates

-Continued updates related to the blackout issues that some of you have seen.

We're also continuing work on stability related to the high quality streams that a few of you have seen on Vista, updates to full screen mode for "true full screen" when the feed is in 4:3 aspect ratio, and an isolated Mac stability issue as well. In addition, we're working through your comments here and on the support forum, and will continue to address individual issues as they arise. Thanks again for your patronage, we hope you enjoy the product.

Note: We also just had a minor encoder problem, that may have affected some of you watching the multi game views. If your video has stopped, a restart of the application will bring it back.

For clarification

2008-04-02T19:32:22Z

Those of you who were being told you're logged in too many times, should no longer be seeing this message. If any of you still are, we'd like to hear from you either via comments here, or on the support forum.

In addition, if anyone is seeing all games blacked out, we'd like to hear from you as well.

Thanks,

Justin

Mosaic Update

2008-04-02T16:18:09Z

Here's the update for today. We've rolled out a few changes that will address the login issues that some of you have seen. We appreciate all of your comments and feedback, and are working individually with a number of you on more specific issues. We'll have another update later today.

Thanks,

Justin

Login Issues

2008-04-02T04:48:21Z

We're aware of the login issues that some of you have experienced, and will be deploying a fix for these prior to games starting tomorrow. We appreciate your understanding in the meantime, and thank you all for your feedback.

Thanks,

Justin

Update

2008-04-02T02:05:48Z

As you may have seen, we have re-enabled the mosaic after working through the tech issues we were concerned about earlier. It will be running through the rest of the evening, and in normal operation from this point forward. Again, we appreciate your patience as we ensure we provide the best experience possible.

We're working on a few intermittent issues that have been reported related to viewing some of the video on the 6-up view, as well as login related issues. We'll keep you updated here and on the support forum as we progress.

Thanks,

Justin

Mosaic Update - Temporarily Unavailable

2008-04-01T22:58:52Z

Hi all,

In order to prevent some of the issues that some of you experienced yesterday, we've temporarily disabled the Mosaic application this evening, which is why you're not able to log in right now. We're working on ensuring that the issue is resolved, and are working towards a re-start for the next round of games this evening. We appreciate your understanding as we address the problem.

In the meantime, all of you who are premium subscribers can watch MLB.TV in the browser. You can find links to all of the games on the Multimedia Guide, or from the mini scoreboard on the homepage.

Thanks, Justin

The 2008 Mosaic is now Available

2008-03-31T19:54:54Z

Thanks very much for your patience. With this being MLB.TV's most anticipated Opening Day ever, we appreciate your frustration. Ultimately we ran into conflicts that were buoyed by an entire suite of new products rolling out simultaneously that didn't affect themselves with less than the full slate of games being played concurrently.

We hope you all enjoy the mosaic throughout the season and will be monitoring the support forums here around the clock while we ensure that everything is stable.

If you are having any trouble, we ask that you post in the support forum, as opposed to commenting here, as it will get a more timely reply from a larger group of our engineers.

Once again, you can go to the forum by clicking here.

You can download the Mosaic for Mac and PC by clicking here.

Thanks from the entire MLB.TV Mosaic team.

-Justin

Installer Update

2008-03-31T18:22:59Z

Again, we appreciate your patience, and your frustration. The entire Mosaic team is working through some technology issues related to the rollout of the Mosaic for you all today. We'll have it available shortly, and will update you here as soon as it is ready.

Thanks,

Justin

2008 Installer

2008-03-31T16:18:43Z

Thanks for your continued patience, we're continuing to work on getting the installer ready for you all. In the meantime, for our premium subscribers, you can watch MLB.TV via the web based player here.

New features and functionality for 2008

2008-03-31T16:09:38Z

With a new mosaic this year, I wanted to quickly run through a few things that are different in the app. As you've seen, we now have high quality NexDef single game streams at 1.2 megabits on both PC and Mac. These use a newer version of the Swarmcast plugin from last year, now called MLB.TV NexDef. It will install with the mosaic application and it lets us more efficiently use your bandwidth to let you watch better video.

In addition, we've added additional multi game views (on the bottom left). In order to allow for multiple quality levels in these views, we are now using individual streams for these views, so they will buffer independently. This will make switching games in the multi game view a bit slower, but we think this is far outweighed by the ability to watch in the 3-up or 4-up view, a high quality stream for the large game, and be able to monitor two or three other games.

More to come, with some screenshots and additional explanation this afternoon after we get started.

The 2008 MLB.TV Mosaic is almost here!

2008-03-30T00:19:15Z

We're putting the finishing touches on the new MLB.TV Mosaic for those of you who are premium subscribers (or those considering, you can purchase a subscription by clicking here ), and i'll again be using the Mosaic blog as a place to provide high level commentary on our new features and addressing general questions/release notes/etc for you all. In addition, this year we are continuing the support forum where our team will be answering technical questions. It's the best place to check if you're having trouble getting the app installed or using it, or just want to submit feedback. Once again, we appreciate all of you using the product, and are looking forward to a great baseball season as much as you all are.

More to follow on our new features in short order when the app is available, but at a high level, we're going to be providing the same high quality NexDef streams that are new this year for MLB.TV in the Mosaic in 16x9 aspect ratio video for you all. In addition, we've reworked how our multi game views work, which will improve the quality of the video, but adds some buffering delay. For the technically inclined, we have split these out into individual streams, so each needs to be connected individually. Finally, we've also added additional templates for configuring the multi-game view to adjust the number of games and the sizes of the video to your preference.

Thanks from the MLB.TV Mosaic product team.

Quick Update and Support Forum

2007-05-17T13:21:25Z

Hi all,
I'm writing to announce to you all that we've set up a support forum, available here at http://mlb.ensequence.com, that will allow for better consolidation of our support teams suggestions, results, and insight, and allow you all to post your various issues and resolutions as well. Shane, who leads our support team and some of you I'm sure have spoken to, will be the principal maintainer of the support forum and will be commenting there. The blog has been very helpful in providing tactile feedback as we worked to make sure you've all been supported, but I think that the next generation of this will be more efficient via the forum. It's not currently integrated with our mlb.com user accounts, so you'll need to sign-in there for the time being, but it should provide a starting point for us to consolidate all of this information. We're also going to be working on getting a better feedback mechanism in place for next-generation features and functionality. Finally, we're actively working on enhancing our video encoding as well, to provide even higher quality video via the mosaic and mlb.tv for you all.

Thanks,

Justin Shaffer

New Build Yesterday: A209

2007-04-27T13:44:50Z

Hi all,
I apologize for the late update on the new build for you all. Yesterday mid-day, we released A209, which contains the following updates:

-Line score related bug fixes
-Always on top mode update for PC version
-Archive video bug fixes (scrub issues on PC at end of game & displaying archive available too early)
-Postponed game updates
-Updates for MLB.com media services/login services

Thank you again for all of the time you're putting in. By the numbers, it appears that the app is extremely engaging for those that are using it. Please continue to either email in to the mosaic team or post issues here, and we'll be addressing them as they come up.

In addition, we're working on getting the support forum up to aggregate recommendations and solutions to issues so that you don't all have to go searching through the blog.

Thanks,

Justin