NVidia Shield TV

Jae-So · 16 Oct 2015 at 17:13

davisdavid said:
Pretty sure it's only compatible with the shield controller. TBF the nvidia controller is pretty much a slightly larger 360 controller.

Hmm while these seem awesome me thinks I am better off going with the Steam link. I am sure these are great, but I would prefer to use the combination of Steam controller / Xbox controller / KB/M.

My Xbox one will play the role of central media centre and maybe I'll grab a Shied tablet later.

Jae-So · 16 Oct 2015 at 17:14

Double post

bluntslide · 29 Oct 2015 at 18:51

so mine got delivered yesterday and had a quick play....
first off it was set at 4k in the display settings and my A/V amp does not appear to like it! artifacts and display flassjhing off and on through the tv. so i plugged directly into the tv (which is 4k) and all was well.
apps and games are limited but if you install sideloader for app shortcuts and use the es file explorer then you can load APk files from usb. have installed google drive which opens everything i have on there, documents, videos etc.. installed dolphin browser but cannot navigate anything, may need to try a keyboard for this? Modbro works perfect, showbox loads but again, can not navigate the layout.
controller seems okay, d-pad is a bit squeaky! can talk into it for google and appears to work on PC if you plug the usb into it, bonus!
so my rig is a bit tame currently, a pentium k and 770gtx so as expected, streaming games was choppy...so i went to my friends house to test streaming.
very good results, wireless and wired using virgin 50mb. test rig was i7 4790k with 980gtx, monitor was 4k super wide LG which may have created the next problem.. resolution on tv when steam/game streaming! so it all looked a bit stretched/zoomed and the choices were 1440 and when we changed the ratio it made no difference?
that said, GTAV was very smooth at 4k adn tried Grid 2 and no lag there either. ultimately the gamestream is mirroring the monitor so if your PC is close enough, you might as well get a longer display cable.
menu browsing on the shield tv itself is rapid, loading 4k via youtube is reallly quick, opening files and loading apps is nice.
you can run games like asphalt 8 and those generic shooters and they look ok but not a patch on what it can display but for the kids, it saves draining the battery on your tablet or phone.
no facebook login or web browser out of the box, its all google login stuff which is not too restricting so far.
sorry for the waffle but if you want me to try anything with it then i am more than happy to give it a go for you and give feedback!

alex_123_fra · 31 Oct 2015 at 19:29

Thinking of getting one of these. Blunt, can it play NowTV? Has anyone flashed a custom ROM on it to let it behave like a proper android device? If so, do you lose any functionality (e.g. Game streaming from PC to TV or Nvidia Cloud to TV)?

bluntslide · 31 Oct 2015 at 22:46

I've seen some roms on xda but none that look stable enough to make me want to root. I will try now tv tomorrow at some point.

Huntyz · 1 Nov 2015 at 07:44

alex_123_fra said:
Thinking of getting one of these. Blunt, can it play NowTV? Has anyone flashed a custom ROM on it to let it behave like a proper android device? If so, do you lose any functionality (e.g. Game streaming from PC to TV or Nvidia Cloud to TV)?

Look at my posts above.

I'm still using the same ROM Zulu 1.8 (2.1 is out) full Android and its working fine, You can install all the Nvidia apps and use them like normal the only thing that wont work is using the Nvidia controller in wireless (you can using droidmote and plugging it into your phone) as the drivers are closed source but can use PS3 controller wireless etc.

I personally prefer using normal Android than using Android TV as you can download apps straight from the app store (no side loading) and your not restricted with special versions of some apps that restrict what you can do.

Root works, Xposed framework works fine , Kodi works amazing on this device as well (better than any other android device i've used), Streaming works, Emulators are fantastic.

Dunno what else to say other than try it but read the instructions at least 10 times as there is a bit of stuff to do in order to get it flashed.

alex_123_fra · 1 Nov 2015 at 16:19

Thanks guys. I guess I am trying to find reasons why I might need this rather than buy just because I want it. Currently have a gaming PC connected to my main tv with Kodi on it and the kids use it to play games on steam etc. I would like to run emulators but can't be bothered with the clunky PC setups. If emulating MAME and consoles is easier on the Nvidia shield, I may get one just for that.

sonne · 3 Nov 2015 at 11:24

Iv been thinking about getting the nvidia shield purely for kodi and playing games on my tv but if I get and extra long hdmi cable and could just use my tv as a second monitor. Is there any benefit of getting the nvidia box if I can just do that?

davisdavid · 3 Nov 2015 at 11:30

sonne said:
Iv been thinking about getting the nvidia shield purely for kodi and playing games on my tv but if I get and extra long hdmi cable and could just use my tv as a second monitor. Is there any benefit of getting the nvidia box if I can just do that?

They do have the streaming service (free for three months and then £7.99 a month) which has a few decent games. TBH if you can run your tv from you PC then it's probably not worth it unless you really want it.

My TV in the living room is at the furthest possible point in the house to my PC upstairs so the shield plugs a gap quite nicely

Cyclone · 9 Nov 2015 at 11:39

NVM.

Been reading up and ordered one

Cyclone · 17 Nov 2015 at 20:17

Had this a week or so now and its a great bit of kit. Rooted, custom rom, and with a couple of apps the home screen is just how I want it. Built in Chromecast adds to the awesomeness.

Not tried any games yet as the wireless pad needs to go wired for it to work properly.

My i68 android box was good but this is much much better!

Huntyz · 17 Nov 2015 at 20:23

Deleted

Huntyz · 17 Nov 2015 at 20:27

Been using mine for months and its a great piece of kit.

Recommend it 100% cant really see the need to upgrade it ever.

Jae-So · 18 Nov 2015 at 06:31

Jae-So said:
Hmm while these seem awesome me thinks I am better off going with the Steam link. I am sure these are great, but I would prefer to use the combination of Steam controller / Xbox controller / KB/M.

My Xbox one will play the role of central media centre and maybe I'll grab a Shied tablet later.

Caved and bought the Shield tablet after hearing about the varied feedback of the Steam link. Docking this should work well. The re-released version is only £150

Loki · 21 Nov 2015 at 09:37

Hi Guys

I got my Shield TV yesterday. Slightly disappointed I can't watch 4K netflix on my Philips Monitor but hey ho. Has anyone got Amazon Prime Video working ? I have watched a few tutorials but no joy :s

atheos · 29 Nov 2015 at 22:47

My Shield TV will be arriving soon. Bought it on Black Friday for a good price.

Subscribed to the thread

GMac11 · 29 Nov 2015 at 22:48

Got mine today (didn't expect it on a Sunday but the couriers must be doing overtime for Black Friday

)

I had Gamestream up and running and it is very cool indeed, GTA V worked perfectly. The only problem is coming from 1440p on 27 inch to 1080p on 50 inch in the living room my eyes have been spoiled until now but it's still good fun.
Anyhoo, quick question. When I'm gaming is my GPU actually "driving" two displays - like as if I had two monitors hooked up directly to my rig?
If that was the case that's bound to impact significantly on VRAM etc?

davisdavid · 29 Nov 2015 at 23:11

GMac11 said:
Got mine today (didn't expect it on a Sunday but the couriers must be doing overtime for Black Friday )

I had Gamestream up and running and it is very cool indeed, GTA V worked perfectly. The only problem is coming from 1440p on 27 inch to 1080p on 50 inch in the living room my eyes have been spoiled until now but it's still good fun.
Anyhoo, quick question. When I'm gaming is my GPU actually "driving" two displays - like as if I had two monitors hooked up directly to my rig?
If that was the case that's bound to impact significantly on VRAM etc?

I assumed it just output at the resolution of the TV or device being streamed to. So in effect my 32" 1440p monitor is displaying it at 1080p on the 55" TV and the data is being streamed not replicated on both screens if that makes sense.

I really need to read in to putting a custom rom on, many people seem to be having quite good results with it.

bluntslide · 30 Nov 2015 at 07:17

If using steam streaming, I am limited to 1080. If game streaming I can increase the resolution but the ratio does not match.. I have 4k 21:9 on the pc monitor but the tv, although it is also 4k obviously has a different ratio so the resolution looks cropped out stretched. Maybe I can add custom resolutions individually to the games?
To add to my troubles my connection has deteriorated, it was smooth when I first got my shield but is more choppy.

vian_siu · 9 Dec 2015 at 14:49

i just this off the black friday sales. one quick question, it seems like the google play store is different on it and a lot of the stuff is no there. can you still get the itv player and the psp simulator, it appears to me those things are gone.

but i am very happy with this so far though