Nvidia Shield TV owners have one of, if not the best Android TV experiences currently available on the market. The hardware is snappy (it is a gaming console at heart after all), has a great gaming controller and separate remote control for the TV experience. With the release of Shield software experience 8.0 there’s even more to like.
The software brings with not just UI updates and Nvidia’s software changes, but a core OS update to Android 9.0 Pie. There is a significant number of further changes that (while much of it is very US-centric) refine and expand the entertainment capability of the console.
The changes include a new feature called Match Content Colour Space:
For HDR TV owners, a new feature called Match Content Color Space can automatically switch your display mode to deliver more accurate colors whether you’re browsing the home screen or watching your favourite movie in HDR.
There’s the addition of live TV (US-based) that offers 60 channels including sports and news. There’s updates to Hulu, Netlix and Twitch TV which covers a lot of the streaming options that users are going to engage heavily with. The full list is covered by Nvidia on their site.
At its core the Shield TV is a gaming console so it would be an oversight on their part had they not included new or upgraded games with such an overhaul of their platform. If you’re considering a Shield TV, check out the full list of games supported for use on the shield – including controller support.
A sound engine upgrade to Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 broadens the experience holistically rather than focusing on the visuals.
Would it be nice if all platform manufacturers looked at upgrades in such broad, experience delivery details?
TCL owners can forget about 9.0, or 8.0 and 7.0 for that matter – we’re still languishing on Android 6.0 (TV) and despite promises, official patches have ever been delivered – not one!
Avoid TCL televisions as you would the plague.
My 2017 Sony TV only just got an update to 8.0 and though it runs better it’s still not as snappy as the shield. One thing that did surprise me is that Sony patched in support for HDR YouTube (though you get occasional frame drops with 4k HDR. Would be nice to see NVIDIA finally include HDR support in YouTube on what is otherwise the absolute best android TV experience. The Shield has way more power than the shitty mediatek processor in my TV so if they can’t manage proper hardware decoding of vp9.w surely there is headroom to figure… Read more »