GameCenter Live vs NHL Center Ice

[One Winged Angel]

I know that you get NHL Network with NHL Center Ice if you're on optimum.

That's how it's always been for me since I've had CI and NHL Network has been in the states.

 

[kreiderfan20]

I know that you get NHL Network with NHL Center Ice if you're on optimum.

That's how it's always been for me since I've had CI and NHL Network has been in the states.

That is true. I used to get CI through cablevision but they don't offer the package in HD so I stopped buying it. I get the io sports pack for 7 bucks a month which includes NHL & NFL Network along with several other channels I have no use for.

 

[TGWL]

Anyone know if game center or hockey streams allow multiple logins? I was thinking about splitting this with a friend who isn't a huge hockey fan, but would enjoy watching it every now and then.

 

[Tawnos]

We will see as time goes on here, but HockeyStreams quality on the scrimmage broadcast yesterday was fantastic.

 

[One Winged Angel]

That is true. I used to get CI through cablevision but they don't offer the package in HD so I stopped buying it. I get the io sports pack for 7 bucks a month which includes NHL & NFL Network along with several other channels I have no use for.

The sports pack is only $7 a month? I have NFL Network, but I don't have NHL Network in the offseason.

Weird.

 

[Trxjw]

Anyone know if game center or hockey streams allow multiple logins? I was thinking about splitting this with a friend who isn't a huge hockey fan, but would enjoy watching it every now and then.

Not sure about HockeyStreams, but I know Game Center can only be registered to one gaming console, so you can't have multiple people logging into one account on different PS3's. I split mine with a friend in 11-12 and if I was logged in watching the Rangers, and he tried to log in to watch the Red Wings, it would lock him out saying it was already in use by another IP address. However, if we logged in at different times, we could both use it.

 

[kreiderfan20]

The sports pack is only $7 a month? I have NFL Network, but I don't have NHL Network in the offseason.

Weird.

There are only 2 ways that I know of to get NHL network with optimum: either get CI or sportspak. While NFL network is in the pak, it is also included with certain "tiers" of cable tv packages...so I guess the tier/package you have is high enough to get NFL network

 

[LittleKev6D9]

Anyone know if game center or hockey streams allow multiple logins? I was thinking about splitting this with a friend who isn't a huge hockey fan, but would enjoy watching it every now and then.

Multiple users can't watch at the same time. I just tested it with my brother.

 

[the fife flyer]

If you are interested in GameCenter Live, I would strongly recommend checking out HockeyStreams.com instead. Far, far more content, equal (if not better) quality, less price.

Thanks for the heads up on this.

I subscribed last year to GCL since my local cable channel (Premier sports UK) was puting out disgraceful picture quality.
I got a shock though when I discovered the blackouts I didn`t read the smallprint.

I`ve now just cancelled the auto renewal on GCL and will give HS a chance this year when the season starts. I have a d/l speed of around 25meg so hope to get a good enough picture to use my laptop via an HDMI connection to watch on TV.

 

[Shadowrunner]

Hockeystreams has a Roku channel!!!

You might as well just /close thread here.

You can watch all the games without any blackouts in 720p for essentially $55/season via Roku. Absolutely unbeatable value.

https://owner.roku.com/Add/hockeystreams

 

[Pistachio]

How's the quality on hockeystreams?

Last season I used Viaplay, a Norwegian streaming site (Viasat) that gave me full access to NHL GameCenter through my subscription. I used that because I really don't like to watch hockey with Norwegian or Swedish commentators. Two years ago, I had to use ESPN streaming site (forgot the name).

Problem is, they gave me 30fps 3000kbps. 60fps hockey is the gold standard. ESPN and NHL GC also had terrible encoding, with blocky frames and bad colors. How is hockeystreams in terms of quality? Does it give 60fps on all games, or just some? Is the 3500kbps also for all games, or again just some.

 

[Shadowrunner]

How's the quality on hockeystreams?

Last season I used Viaplay, a Norwegian streaming site (Viasat) that gave me full access to NHL GameCenter through my subscription. I used that because I really don't like to watch hockey with Norwegian or Swedish commentators. Two years ago, I had to use ESPN streaming site (forgot the name).

Problem is, they gave me 30fps 3000kbps. 60fps hockey is the gold standard. ESPN and NHL GC also had terrible encoding, with blocky frames and bad colors. How is hockeystreams in terms of quality? Does it give 60fps on all games, or just some? Is the 3500kbps also for all games, or again just some.

From their site:

Adaptive 800-3500Kbps
up to 60 FPS
1280x720
up to 720p HD (60 FPS)


I'm not as clear on the technical aspects, but the games look almost as good as they did in HD on MSG last season. I upgraded from a 40" to a 60" over the summer, and that may be why the visuals aren't as crisp -- that kind of screen estate really needs 1080p.

 

[Pistachio]

From their site:

Adaptive 800-3500Kbps
up to 60 FPS
1280x720
up to 720p HD (60 FPS)


I'm not as clear on the technical aspects, but the games look almost as good as they did in HD on MSG last season. I upgraded from a 40" to a 60" over the summer, and that may be why the visuals aren't as crisp -- that kind of screen estate really needs 1080p.

MSG doesn't air in 1080p, that's very rare for a network to air something in 1080p. It's almost guaranteed to be 720p (or 1080i), but the difference is in the bitrate.

Bitrate (kbps) defines how much information each second of video is carrying. So a bitrate of 3000kbps, means that every second you are being fed ~3MB of data. That's why a 720p stream with 6000kbps bitrate is sooo much better than 3000kbps. Ofc, at a certain point it won't matter as much, and a higher resolution means the bitrate difference will be much more noticable, hence the 1080p.

The encoding of the video is also very important. A 720p@3000kbps with terrible encoding (see GameCenter) produces a lot of blocking and artifacts, and especially fast moving scenes makes bad encoding look so much worse. A 720p@3000kbps with great compression can make the whole thing look so much better. It's definitely noticeable.

Example.

Then of course there's the FPS (frames per second). Imagine one second of a puck being passed from one person to another. In a 30fps video, that one second is compromised of 30 frames. In a 60fps video, it's 60 frames. The pucks position on the ice will be updated twice as many times in a 60 fps video, giving much smoother motion in fast paced scenes, which is why for sports, 60fps is the gold standard.

Just figured I'd give people a very basic understanding of streaming and video technology I'm by no means an expert, but here's the basics in laymans terms

hockeystreams does give that information, yes, but when they say "up to 60 fps", what does that really mean. Is that only for one match a year? Only for one network provider? I'm sure it's a lot better than gamecenter though, so I'll probably test it for a month in october

 

[Shadowrunner]

Thanks for the lowdown, it's actually nice and concise.

I know that MSG doesn't broadcast in 1080p, I was just theorizing as to why the visuals on my new 60" plasma appear to be a bit less crisp with hockeystreams than on my old 40" LCD with MSG -- the bigger the screen, the worse the picture of non full HD content.

That said, in the few games I watched the broadcast was VERY smooth -- it was actually easier to follow the puck, so I don't think fps is an issue.

 

[Stasis]

I've thoroughly enjoyed HS for the 2 weeks that I've had it, and now that there's a Roku channel I'm all set I think.

Quality has been better than GCL, overall, as has ease of connection. I guess the real test will be when the regular season starts and there are more concurrent users.

 

[Championship*]

Can't recommend hockey streams enough. It's a godsend.

 

[Clown Fiesta]

Having some very annoying issues with HS and can't figure out why, have tried pretty much everything. We'll see tonight if I got it resolved, if not I will probably go back to GCL.

 

[nyr2k2]

Having some very annoying issues with HS and can't figure out why, have tried pretty much everything. We'll see tonight if I got it resolved, if not I will probably go back to GCL.

What issues, and have you posted in the support forum?

 

[Clown Fiesta]

What issues, and have you posted in the support forum?

Stuttering, and yes. He didn't tell me anything I hadn't already tried though. My connection is plenty fast, flash is updated, increased cache size, wired connection, router firmware updated, drivers updated, browser updated, Windows updated, virus scan, malware scan, and anything else you could think of as well.

I will cycle my modem and router before the game starts and see what happens. I've tried VLC, and potplayer as well and had the same issues. Used serviio and the mobile app and has the same issues as well.

Stream buffers every nine seconds. It's asinine.

He did suggest trying the central server as I might have bad routing to the west server so we'll see. I watched a few games without issue, but had quite a few problems with every other game I tried to watch.

 

[hpNYR]

Anyone else that lives outside of NYC having their MSG blacked out during games? I have direct tv and it gets blacked out. Calgary game didnt record because it was blacked out. Is this normal procedure?

 

[Tawnos]

Anyone else that lives outside of NYC having their MSG blacked out during games? I have direct tv and it gets blacked out. Calgary game didnt record because it was blacked out. Is this normal procedure?

When I lived in Nashville and had Dish and received MSG, I discovered that, by state law, they were only allowed to show a certain number of live out of markets sporting events on regional networks. Just because you get MSG doesn't mean you'll be able to watch Rangers games. You still have to get the Center Ice package.

 

[Tawnos]

By the way, very very pleased with the quality of hockey streams last night.

 

[Callagraves]

So, I guess GCL doesn't do preseason games. That's horse-****

 

[nyr2k2]

Anyone else that lives outside of NYC having their MSG blacked out during games? I have direct tv and it gets blacked out. Calgary game didnt record because it was blacked out. Is this normal procedure?

When I lived in Nashville and had Dish and received MSG, I discovered that, by state law, they were only allowed to show a certain number of live out of markets sporting events on regional networks. Just because you get MSG doesn't mean you'll be able to watch Rangers games. You still have to get the Center Ice package.

At my previous house in MD, I had Verizon FiOS. As part of my sports package, I received SNY. I could watch everything on it except for live Mets games. Those were always blacked out. I assume MSG and other channels operate in a similar fashion.

 

[Tawnos]

At my previous house in MD, I had Verizon FiOS. As part of my sports package, I received SNY. I could watch everything on it except for live Mets games. Those were always blacked out. I assume MSG and other channels operate in a similar fashion.

Yeah pretty much the same thing. Luckily for me, in that Dish situation, when I signed up they had promised me I'd be watching Rangers games on MSG, so when I couldn't, I *****ed and complained until I got them to essentially throw in Center Ice for the next two seasons.