Nvidia’s new Shield TV Pro and Shield TV add Dolby Vision and AI 4K upscaling
1Reported today in The Verge.
Nvidia’s new Shield TV Pro and Shield TV add Dolby Vision and AI 4K upscaling
Amazon and Newegg might’ve spoiled the surprise last week, but today Nvidia is officially launching two new Shield TV devices. The Shield TV Pro ($199.99) and Shield TV ($149.99) are available for purchase immediately — and some retailers have already been stocking them in recent days.
Both new Shield TV products include a Tegra X1+ processor, which Nvidia says is “up to 25 percent faster” than the original X1. That’s a pretty minor speed bump when you factor in how old the X1 silicon is getting, but the Shield TV has always been extremely fast and responsive all the same.
The main upgrades to the 2019 Shields is in software. Dolby Vision HDR is now finally supported. And Nvidia is using artificial intelligence to upscale 1080p and 720p video from your streaming apps so that it comes closer to 4K’s clarity and sharpness.
The Shield TV Pro’s design looks unchanged from the previous Shield TV, though it no longer ships with an included gamepad. What makes it “Pro,” you ask? It’s got more storage (16GB) and RAM (3GB) than the standard Shield TV (8GB/2GB) and is the only one between the two that can be a Plex Media Server. It also has two USB 3.0 ports.
The standard Shield TV is intended for a more mainstream audience. It’s a long tube with ethernet connectivity and microSD expansion — no USB ports, though. The look is unconventional, but you’re supposed to hide the Shield TV away somewhere (or even keep it on the floor).
Both come with a brand new remote that has power, volume, and fast forward/rewind buttons, plus the existing voice search, home, and back controls. There’s also a customizable hardware button and a shortcut for Netflix on there.
These Shields run the latest version of Android TV, which is still 9/Oreo right now despite 10’s launch on mobile. Google recently added the option to include Android TV in routines that you can set up in the Google Home app, allowing these new devices to be part of chained together flows that are activated with a chosen phrase.