NBA streaming

[jimv]

I cut the cord a while back and considered NBA League Pass to stream the Celtics/NBA games. Sadly, the NBA product is absolute crap (blackout restrictions here). Based on a couple SoSH recommendations I signed up for BallStreams and, so far, streamed over a dozen games. Thought it would be useful to report back.
 
The good -

• No blackouts, your choice of home or away announcers (when available)
• Games are archived just a few minutes after they finish (home announcers only)
• Various sign up options. The ability to freeze your account
• Generally infrequent streaming hiccups

The bad -

• Meh image quality - this might be a result of my setup, details below, maybe someone more knowledgeable can offer some insight
• Streaming issues - 2 of the 14 games or so became completely unwatchable due to streaming issues. None of the recommended fixes helped. No major trouble over the past week or so. Typically there might be 2-3 streaming hiccups (2-3seconds per) during a game

Bottomline - the ability to watch any hoops game is nice, but the less-than-good image quality irks me every time. If that's fixable then two thumbs up. Otherwise try other options before heading down this road
 
 
Info for image quality troubleshooting - the picture is not as sharp as it should be and appears jittery. I'm streaming to a pc and throwing that image to a tv. Unfortunately my video card uses DisplayPort rather than HDMI so I have an inline adaptor to convert the signal. While streaming the processor runs at ~13%, the video card at ~24%
 
software - Windows 7 Pro, Chrome/FireFox (both are used) with Flash, all on latest versions
hardware - dell desktop, dual Xeons, GeForce 3800 video card, Samsung LN46C6560 lcd panel
stream specs - ballstreams has 2 options SD and HD. I'm always streaming HD, 3200kbps. My connection should handle that without any trouble. Flash stats indicates ~30fps
 
Is the hdmi-displayport adaptor the problem? Or maybe my generally old hardware? Any info/insight would be helpful

 

[epraz]

Yeah this seems totally legit.  I wouldn't "donate" too far out from the present day.

 

[The Social Chair]

I have used BallStream for this season and all of last on my Roku 3. I have had no problems with it at all besides the occasional hiccup. My Roku 3 has more stream spec options than 2, and it lets you choose a server location (I use USA-West Coast since I'm in LA).