I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of trademarked terms meant to make something sound better than it is, and MLB’s NextDef is a case in point. But MLB and Swarmcast have created a service that works very well and they should be applauded for it.

No, a 1.2 Mbps stream won’t give you high definition, it’s not going to knock your socks off if attached to a large screen, but it is the highest quality live video currently offered on the internet. In this MLB has succeeded.

Live streaming is a very different beast than delivering on-demand content, and making possible the best experience for so many users with so many different connection speeds is no an easy task. According to the release, “On Opening Day, MLB.TV and Swarmcast delivered over 1.7 million live game streams” Based on that massive number, it’s no wonder there were some opening day issues.

Moreover it speaks to the advantage of having a client-side protocol like Swarmcast’s Autobahn that can measure and adapt to the unique conditions in each users home. While online, every connection is different, Autobahn, ensures that each user receives the best possible experience.

Said Joe Choti, Chief Technology Officer, MLB.com:

“Existing streaming technologies did not have the level of scalability we required and we realized that in order to grow our audience and improve video quality we needed a fundamentally different approach to streaming. Swarmcast presents the only method of delivering high-quality live streaming to hundreds of millions of viewers with the reliability that enables us to grow a business around the Internet as a distribution channel.”

The expansion of Autobahn which had previously been used to power MLB’s Moasiac multi-game viewing option to all games shows that in places where content can be monetized, we are quickly moving toward much higher quality video on the net.

Corey Adds: Not to be a complete hater, I do have to give credit where it is due. While taking the Acela back from Boston last week, I was able to stream the Red Sox game I was leaving behind, nearly uninterrupted. The battle between “lean back” quality and content with any where, any time convenience continues on……

Lets just cut right to the chase. I’m going to have to pony up the money for the Extra Innings package through my cable company.

I used both the Silverlight and NextDef plugins to try and get to the “TV Quality” that is advertised for the 1.2MB stream from MLB.TV’s Premium package. What TV? Well, on a 42″ 1080p plasma screen, the stream looks like your grandmother’s 20 year old RCA with the picture tube on its last legs.

The good news? MLB.TV’s premium package looks fantastic on a laptop or on a 22″ widescreen monitor plugged into the computer. Plain and simple, it looks great. If, hypothetically, you wanted to watch this afternoon’s Red Sox game while you were writing a press release, you wouldn’t be disappointed in the least with the offering. Stutter free, high quality audio and video without any sign of noise in the signal. If you were in a hotel room with basic cable in a city where you can’t even begin to fathom watching the local game, you’d also be spared the usual agony. And without a doubt, the stream beats the quality of watching your cable box over a Slingbox.

The bad news is that MLB.TV’s offering just isn’t up to what I’m going to call “livingroom quality.” There will be, for the foreseeable future, a balance between convenience and quality, and that value can’t be underestimated. I would rather have watched the Red Sox make a triumphant late inning comeback to beat the (Walker) Texas Rangers on Sunday than any other game, but it came at a price. Or rather, a choice of prices.

I could have sat at my desk with my 22″ monitor and been perfectly happy with the quality of the video stream. But alas, thats not what my experiment is all about. We’re talking convergence. We’re talking “lean back.” We’re talking sitting on your sofa with a few friends, a few beers and seeing if anyone notices that you aren’t watching cable, let alone HDTV. Unfortunately, it didn’t take more than 5 seconds for the first person to speak up, and they spoke up loud and clear. “What’s wrong with your TV? This sucks!”

Did it suck? No, not really. We wouldn’t have been able to watch the game at all, and that is a luxury in its own right. But is it on par with even regular TV? Not yet. So road warriors, sign up without any hesitation. But if you plan on watching full screen baseball without a pixelated, monochromatic outfield, you better call your cable company for the time being.

For anyone keeping track, the test PC uses an Intel Core2 CPU 6600 @ 2.4GHz, 4GB of RAM and an nVidia 7900 GS video card connected with a DVI-to-HDMI cable to a Panasonic 42″ TH-42PZ700U 1080p TV. Windows XP Pro SP2.