Features | A KILLER VIEW - Movies, TV shows, and games look unbelievably good with best-in-class 4K HDR or high-definition 1080p. Access thousands of apps, including Netflix, Amazon Video, YouTube, HULU, HBO, ESPN, VUDU, Showtime, Pandora, Spotify, Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, Plex, and Kodi, with more joining the lineup all the time.
AMAZING GAMES, PLAYED YOUR WAY - Expand your entertainment with the highest-quality gaming experience of any streaming media player. Enjoy the smoothest streaming in hundreds of PC-quality games with the next generation of GeForce NOW. Play exclusive Android games or cast your PC game library from your GeForce GTX-powered rig to your living room in up to 4K HDR using NVIDIA GameStream.
THE WORLD AT YOUR COMMAND - Just say what you want to see and let Google's revolutionary voice search technology find it within seconds. Get the most comprehensive search results of any streaming device with results from over 100 apps, including Netflix, YouTube, HULU, HBO, VUDU, and more.
THE COMPLETE PACKAGE - SHIELD TV delivers the complete entertainment experience, shipping with the SHIELD remote and the newly redesigned SHIELD controller. Enjoy voice search support, rumble feedback and private listening - all in a sleek and stylish form factor. Game changer.
GEFORCE NOW: THE NEW WAY TO GAME - Instantly play on-demand PC games powered by supercharged NVIDIA Pascal GPUs in the cloud for 4X faster gameplay than "next-gen" game consoles. Multiplayer gaming, online leaderboards, and more anywhere there's a SHIELD. The first month is even free for a limited time.
PC-TO-TV CASTING FOR GTX GAMERS - Stream your library of PC games to your TV in up to 4K HDR with NVIDIA GameStream. Game the way you want.
CHROMECAST 4K ULTRA BUILT-IN - SHIELD has Chromecast built in. Share your valuable photos, fantasy football lineup, or that thing you just have to show your friends to the big screen from your Android or iOS phone! |
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Pros: + Fantastic Plex server + Plex + HDHomeRun works great + Headphone jack on remote + Rechargeable remote + Quality controller: sturdy build and rechargeable. + Plenty of space I bought this Nvidia Shield TV Pro to use as a Plex server. I have been using Plex on my i5 Intel NUC for well over a year and it work very well running on linux. My linux mounted an NFS from my Synology NAS that contained my videos. Keeping the linux and Plex up-to-date was a manual process and I had a few issues that caused some downtime. There's pros and cons to having an automated update system, but I decided to research possibilities. Shortening a long story... I read that the Shield TV Pro was a great alternative to my current solution. Great reviews all around. I decided to give it a try and I am not disappointed. Plex runs beautifully on the Shield. It mounts the video share on my NAS without issue. Hi definition videos play quickly and with great quality. I have had two videos running simultaneously on several occasions without any issue. I have not tried 3 videos streams. I have not had a need for that as of now. I saw one review in which they stated running 3 videos was problematic; however, the 3rd device in the test was an iPhone. The transcoding to an iOS device compatible format can be taxing on any system depending on the original format. I also have the HDHomeRun EXTEND connected to the Plex server on the SHIELD and it works very well. I get a few starts on some channels, but I could use a better antenna and placement. The headphone jack on the remote is an awesome bonus. When the rest of the family is asleep I don't have to worry about the volume. Both the remote and game controller are rechargeable and a sturdy quality. I was pleasantly surprised with the game controller. It is a very solid build. It should survive several accidental drops. My NAS contains my video library that I run through Plex, so I haven't really used the internal storage for anything other than locally install apps and games. This model comes with 500GB, so I doubt I could install that many games to fill it up. But never say never.
Cons: - Sound delay when returning from pause My biggest gripe is that there is about a 4 to 5 second delay getting sound when playing movies from any source; Plex, Netflix, YouTube, etc. The SHIELD is connected to my receiver with a 5.1 speaker setup. I do not know why it has a delay, but I do know that I did not have this problem with my previous solutions. When I pause a show and return to play, I have to wait until I hear sound and do a quick 10 second rewind to continue. I pause frequently for various reasons. Having to deal with the sound delay is frustrating. However, considering all of the other great pros, even a few I didn't list, I couldn't bring myself to crack an egg.
Overall Review: It would be nice to have a method to remotely administer the SHIELD. I have a lot of moving parts on my network in which I can access them remote whether by HTTPS or VPN to terminal. As of this review, I do not believe I can do either for the SHIELD to administer it; reboot, change a setting; etc. There have been two occasions in which an upgrade somewhere resulted in the Plex server on the SHIELD not being able to access the library and required a reboot. I am very happy that I purchased the NVIDIA SHIELD TV Pro. So much so that I recommended it to a friend that was looking for a new Plex solution as I did. That friend purchased it and has been happy with it the last time I checked. If you found this review helpful, please let me know.