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NexDef and HD Quality FAQ

  1. How do I access HD Quality Picture?

    If a game is streamed in HD, you may receive an HD quality picture with a subscription to MLB.TV or MLB.TV Premium, installation of our NexDef software, and an Internet connection with consistent bandwidth of at least 3 Mbps. NexDef enables MLB.TV and MLB.TV Premium subscribers to view HD Quality video streams, and the ability to pause and rewind live games. For an optimal viewing experience we recommend that you install the latest version of Adobe Flash Player.

  2. What is NexDef and why should I install it?

    NexDef helps your computer better manage its bandwidth (Internet connection speed) to bring you higher quality video. This is particularly ideal for those with slower Internet connections, but useful for everyone. NexDef also allows all MLB.TV subscribers to stream our highest quality video feeds and to pause and rewind live games within the media player. NexDef can be downloaded here.

  3. Do I have NexDef?

    You can see if NexDef is installed by running our NexDef Detector. Within the MLB.TV Media Player, you can also see if it is installed by attempting to access HD Quality streams or live game DVR Functionality.

    1. If the HD icon at the bottom of the media player is grey instead of green and when you click on it you see a message stating "For highest quality, install NexDef", than you do not have NexDef. Click on that prompt to install NexDef.
    2. If you do not have the ability to pause and rewind live game action, you do not have the latest version of NexDef.
    3. When you click on the video control bars or DVR controls, the player may prompt you to install or upgrade NexDef, as displayed below. Follow the links in the prompt to install NexDef.

    You can also download NexDef from our Download Center. If you have any questions, contact the MLB.TV Support Forum.

  4. Where do I download NexDef?

    You can install NexDef from our Download Center.

    NexDef enables all MLB.TV subscribers to view HD Quality video streams, and gives the ability to pause and rewind live games.

  5. Which games will be available in HD? Is there any special software required to view them in HD?

    You may view games with an HD quality picture if the source feed is distributed in HD, you are an MLB.TV or MLB.TV Premium subscriber, and you have installed both NexDef and Adobe Flash Player or higher. For an optimal viewing experience we recommend that you install the latest version of Adobe Flash Player. Games available with an HD quality picture are indicated as such in the Media Center. To view our highest quality HD feed you must have an Internet connection with a consistent bandwidth of at least 3Mbps. If you do not have this amount of bandwidth, we recommend selecting one of our lower quality HD streams within the media player. If you are unsure what the bandwidth of your Internet connection is, you can check with our bandwidth test.

  6. I am an MLB.TV subscriber, but I do not have the "Live Game DVR" functionality in my media player, why not?

    Live Game DVR functionality requires the installation of NexDef on your computer. Though Adobe Flash Player includes most of the features of our media player, NexDef is required for live game DVR functionality.

  7. How do I install NexDef?

    NexDef is available for download in the MLB.TV Download Center. To access the MLB.TV Download Center, put your mouse over where it says "MLB.TV" in the horizontal menu bar on the top of most MLB.com pages. In the drop down menu that follows, click on "MLB.TV Download Center".




    From the Download Center, click on the "Download" button in the NexDef section on the right side of the page.




    In the window that opens up, click to "Download MLB.TV NexDef"




    On a Windows computer, choose "Run" in the prompt to run or save the file.




    On a Mac, download the installation file and then open the file. Double click on the MLB.TV NexDef Plug-in file inside of it.





    Continue through the prompts until your installation is complete.

    DISCLAIMER REGARDING CHANGING YOUR COMPUTER'S CONFIGURATION: Any change you make to your configurations is at your own risk. In no event shall MLB.com or any other MLB entity be responsible or liable for any damage, failure, interruption or error to your computer, software and/or operating system with respect to any changes made based on the above suggested configurations.

  8. I have successfully installed NexDef but when I try and use any DVR functionality within the player, or access an HD quality stream, I am told to install NexDef. What should I do?

    First, log out of MLB.com by clicking the Logout button on the top left of the Media Player or the top right of any page on MLB.com. Then, you should restart the NexDef process by following the steps below:

    1. Windows 7/Vista/XP:
      1. Terminate the mlb-nexdef-autobahn.exe process:
        1. Method 1: In the Windows Run box or from a cmd.exe/DOS window, enter the following command:taskkill /f /im mlb-nexdef-autobahn.exe
        2. Method 2: Terminate the mlb-nexdef-autobahn.exe process using the Task Manager. Simultaneously press the Ctrl-Alt-Delete keys and then select "Task Manager". Navigate to the "Processes" tab and find mlb-nexdef-autobahn.exe. Select it and click the "End Process" button. Agree to all prompts.
      2. Start the mlb-nexdef-autobahn.exe process:
        1. Method 1: Start the mlb-nexdef-autobahn.exe process using the application shortcut in the Windows Start Menu.
        2. Method 2: Start the mlb-nexdef-autobahn.exe process from the Run box or cmd.exe/DOS window. Under Vista, the mlb-nexdef-autobahn.exe executable is located in: C:\Users\{USERNAME}\AppData\Local\Autobahn\mlb-nexdef-autobahn.exe
        3. Under XP, the mlb-nexdef-autobahn.exe executable is located in: C:\Documents and Settings\{USERNAME}\Local Settings\Application Data\Autobahn\mlb-nexdef-autobahn.exe
    2. Mac OSX:
      1. Terminate the MLBNexDefAutobahn process:
        1. Method 1: Use Activity Monitor to terminate the process (Located in Applications/Utilities)
        2. Method 2: Terminate the MLBNexDefAutobahn process by running the following command from a Terminal window: killall -c MLBNexDefAutobahn
      2. Start the MLBNexDefAutobahn process:
        1. The process is started automatically under OSX 10.5.x when the media player is launched.
        2. For OSX 10.4.x, NexDef doesn't auto-restart itself. NexDef can be found in: /Users/YOUR-HOME-DIR/Library/Application Support/Swarmcast/MLBNexDefAutobahn.app
        3. Go to that location in Finder, double-click that app, and NexDef will start running in the background.

    DISCLAIMER REGARDING CHANGING YOUR COMPUTER'S CONFIGURATION:

    Any change you make to your configurations is at your own risk. In no event shall MLB.com or any other MLB entity be responsible or liable for any damage, failure, interruption or error to your computer, software and/or operating system with respect to any changes made based on the above suggested configurations.

  9. I am using a Sony Vaio computer and am unable to get NexDef to work properly, what should I do?

    Anyone that has a Sony Vaio Computer who has problems starting NexDef, should disable the "VAIO Power Management" program and then manually start NexDef by going to the Start Menu, select the Startup folder, and select NexDef. If you still have problems, try installing NexDef directly here.

    You can disable VAIO Power Management by doing the following:

    1. Open the Control Panel from the Start Menu. Note: Windows Vista users will need to enable Classic View if you haven't already.
    2. Enter the Administrative Tools.
    3. Open the Services Manager.
    4. Search for the "VAIO Power Management" service and click Stop to disable the service.
    5. You can now close out of the Control Panel and start NexDef by going to the Start Menu, under Programs choose the Startup folder, within that folder click on NexDef.

    DISCLAIMER REGARDING CHANGING YOUR COMPUTER'S CONFIGURATION:

    Any change you make to your configurations is at your own risk. In no event shall MLB.com or any other MLB entity be responsible or liable for any damage, failure, interruption or error to your computer, software and/or operating system with respect to any changes made based on the above suggested configurations.

  10. Soon after launching MLB.TV , with NexDef installed, my Windows computer got a Blue Screen error, what may have caused this?

    This may have happened due to a conflict with Kaspersky Internet Security or Anti-Virus. We recommend that you disable this program when watching a game on MLB.TV. If you would like to always have an Anti-Virus running, a good free alternative is AVG. Other alternatives are programs such as Norton or McAfee. Also, Kaspersky Internet Security contains an Ad-Blocking feature that can prevent the MLB.TV media player from loading in its window. We recommend disabling this feature when accessing MLB.TV.

  11. When trying to launch a game the media player opens and only shows a gray screen with the silhouette of the MLB logo or my browser hangs and the game does not start up. What can I do?

    If you are receiving a gray screen with the silhouette of the MLB batter logo in the player please try the following:

    First, disable any Ad Blocking features or plug-ins that you may have enabled in your browser or security programs. If you are using Firefox, disable the following plug-ins if you are using them: AdBlock Plus, FlashBlock, and NoScript.

    If you are still having problems starting a game, restart the NexDef process via the following instructions:

    Windows XP/Vista/7:
    1) Simultaneously press CTRL-ALT-DEL on your keyboard.
    2) Select the Task Manager
    3) Within the Task Manager click on "mlb-nexdef-autobahn.exe". It may be easier to find if you organize the listings by name by clicking on the Image Name tab.
    4) Once "mlb-nexdef-autobahn.exe" is selected, click on the "End Process" button. Click yes to quit the process if prompted.
    5) Restart the game. If it still is not working, restart your computer and try launching the game again.

    Mac OSX:
    1) Go to the Applications folder, and then the Utilities folder, in the Utilities folder launch the Activity Monitor.
    2) In the Activity Monitor select "MLBNexDefAutobahn" or use the search bar on the top right and search for NexDef. When it comes up, click on "MLBNexDefAutobahn" and then click on the Quit Process button on the top left of the window.
    3) In the prompt that comes up, choose Force Quit (or Quit if that is the only option).
    4) Restart the game. If it still is not working, restart your computer and try launching the game again.

    DISCLAIMER REGARDING CHANGING YOUR COMPUTER'S CONFIGURATION: Any change you make to your configurations is at your own risk. In no event shall MLB.com or any other MLB entity be responsible or liable for any damage, failure, interruption or error to your computer, software and/or operating system with respect to any changes made based on the above suggested configurations.

  12. How do I uninstall NexDef?

    Below are instructions on how to uninstall NexDef on specific operating systems:

    A. Windows XP:
    1. Launch the Control Panel
    2. Select Add or Remove programs
    3. In the list of programs click on "MLB.TV NexDef Plugin", then click on the Remove button
    4. Follow the prompts to run through the uninstaller

    B. Windows Vista/7:
    1. Launch the Control Panel
    2. Under where it says Programs, click "Uninstall a Program"
    3. In the list of programs click on "MLB.TV NexDef Plugin", then click on the Uninstall button at the top of the window
    4. Follow the prompts to run through the uninstaller

    C. Mac OSX 10.4/10.5/10.6:
    1. Go to your account's user folder
    2. From your user folder go in to the "Library" folder, then the "Application Support" folder, and finally the "NexDef" folder.
    3. In the NexDef folder, double click on "UninstallNexDef.command"
    4. A Terminal window will open and complete the uninstall process.

    D. Mac OSX 10.7:
    1. With Finder selected, click on the "Go" menu on the top of the screen.
    2. Hold down the "Option" key on your keyboard. "Library" should now appear in the menu, select "Library".
    3. In the Library folder that comes up, open the "Application Support" folder, and then the "NexDef" folder.
    4. In the NexDef folder, double click on "UninstallNexDef.command"
    5. A Terminal window will open and complete the uninstall process.

    DISCLAIMER REGARDING CHANGING YOUR COMPUTER'S CONFIGURATION:
    Any change you make to your configurations is at your own risk. In no event shall MLB.com or any other MLB entity be responsible or liable for any damage, failure, interruption or error to your computer, software and/or operating system with respect to any changes made based on the above suggested configurations.

  13. How can I find out which version of NexDef is installed on my computer?

    You can see which version of NexDef is installed on the computer you are using by accessing our NexDef Detector.

  14. How do I enable NexDef's features in the MLB.TV Media Player?

    The MLB.TV NexDef plug-in brings additional functionality to the media player such as higher quality HD video, radio audio with video broadcasts, and more. To adjust the video quality in the media player, click on "Video Quality" in the bar along the bottom of the player. In this section, you can toggle between Standard and NexDef quality levels. NexDef quality is higher HD quality than what is available in Standard mode. Under "Video Quality", you can also disable or enable the media player's ability to automatically adjust the quality. To manually set the quality level yourself, click on the green bar representing the quality level that you would like to use.



    In the media player's settings, you can configure the player to always launch with NexDef enabled. If you would like to do this, click on the gear icon on the bottom right of the media player, then select "Settings" in the pop-up menu. In the settings window, check the box next to "Enable NexDef by default". Another media player setting that NexDef can enable is the ability to launch live in-progress games from their beginning, instead of the current live action of the game. To enable this feature, check the box next to "Play live games from the start". After you are finished adjusting the media player settings, click "Save".

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