Elevate your media room with a streamer worthy of your time. Instead of constantly upgrading those cheaply made Fire sticks or low end Roku steamers with every Black Friday sale, just get the one streamer who rules them all – the NVIDIA SHIELD.
The Shield Pro was built in 2019 but was so overbuilt, that it’s still the best streamer on the market and the only one that can handle 4K remux video without hiccups.
The latest Nvidia Shield TV Pro was released on October 28th, 2019. This model was the fourth generation of the device and introduced a new Tegra X1+ processor and a redesigned remote.
The remote is rather slick with it’s slim, triangular design. Just watch out for that Netflix button at the bottom as it’s sensitive. One wrong move and up pops Netflix.
I was able to link the power button to my Home Assistant home automation setup. One push of the power button and certain lights go on, the TV turns on and as well as my subwoofer.
Push the power off button and the TV goes off, subwoofer power shuts off and the stairway lights come on.
I’ve also been able to use the two USB 3.0 slots on the Nvidia Shield Pro for portable hard drives. I can store 4K UHD Atmos Remux movies, ripped from my collection of 4K Blu-ray disc on the hard drives and play them on the Shield via a media player such as VLC, Kodi or via a media server like Jellyfin or Plex.
Before getting the Shield I tried a few other streamers but they all choked on the massive 50-80 GB files. The Nvidia Shield Pro handles them without any trouble.
Speaking of Plex – the Shield comes with Plex Media Server software installed so you can add a portable hard drive to it and get up and running streaming your own content around your home or even with friends via a Plex Pass account. You can use it to serve music, shows and movies.
The Tegra X1+ system-on-chip, ship with Android 9.0 “Pie”, support Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision, and include a redesigned remote control, and a new “AI-enhanced” upscaling system that can upscale high-definition video to 4K resolution. The new base model uses a cylindrical form factor rather than a set-top box style, and has 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of flash storage, expandable via MicroSD card (in place of USB ports). The Shield TV Pro uses the same set-top box form factor as the previous model, and includes 3 GB of RAM, 16 GB of flash storage, and two full-size USB 3.0 ports.
- The Best of the Best. The world’s most powerful Android TV streaming media player upgraded to Android TV version 11. Enhance HD video in real-time to 4K for clearer, crisper visuals using next-generation AI upscaling. 2x USB 3.0 ports for storage expansion, USB cameras, keyboards, controllers, and more. Plex Media Server built-in, 3 GB RAM, and 16 GB storage.Connectivity Technology : Bluetooth 5.0
- Dolby Vision – Atmos. Bring your home theater to life with Dolby Vision HDR, and surround sound with Dolby Atmos and Dolby Digital Plus—delivering ultra-vivid picture quality and immersive audio
- 4K HDR Content. Get the most 4K content of any streaming media player. Watch Netflix, Amazon Video, Apple TV+, Disney+ and Google Play Movies & TV in crisp 4K HDR, and YouTube, Hulu, and more in 4K. Stream from your phone with built-in Chromecast 4K.
- GeForce NOW Cloud Gaming. GeForce NOW instantly transforms SHIELD TV into a powerful PC gaming rig. Play over 1000+ titles and nearly 100 of the biggest free to play games. The new GeForce NOW RTX 3080 membership unlocks GeForce RTX 3080 gaming servers in 4K HDR, the shortest wait times and longest session lengths, with RTX ON including ray tracing and DLSS graphics for supported games.
- Voice Control. The built-in Google Assistant is at your command. See photos, live camera feeds, weather, sports scores, and more on the big screen. Dim the lights and immerse yourself in your favorite show or music using only your voice. And control your SHIELD hands-free with Google Home or Alexa and Amazon Echo. Format/Container support: Xvid/ DivX/ASF/AVI/MKV/MOV/M2TS/MPEG-TS/MP4/WEB-M