Nvidia launches new Shield TV with Dolby Vision support
The Nvidia Shield TV (2019) can upscale picture quality for 4K TVs
After a spate of leaks, Nvidia has officially revealed the latest iteration of its Shield TV set-top box; an angular streaming machine with a powerful new processor, support for Dolby Vision and a larger remote that’s less likely to get lost behind your cushions.
The new device, simply called Nvidia Shield TV is out today, 28 October. It’ll set you back £149.99, which marks a drop in price from the previous Shield TV. The company is also releasing a ‘Pro’ version, which costs £199 but comes with upgraded RAM and storage, as well as support for the Plex media streamer.
(Above: The Nvidia Shield TV Pro with remote)
We’ll have a full review in time, but for now we have Nvidia’s specs to go on. The Shield TV (2019) has a Tegra X1+ processor with 2GB RAM, which the company claims makes the latest device 25% faster than its predecessor. It also has support for both Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos for surround sound.
One of the most intriguing features from the Shield TV (2019) is its ability to upscale picture quality, from as low as 480p, to fit with a 4K TV. In a briefing for press, Nvidia said that using ‘enhanced AI upscaling’ will increase image quality with movies and TV shows, although not with video games given the greater processing power that would be required to keep the frame rate sufficiently high.
The revamped Shield TV (2019) also works with a larger Nvidia-built remote, which has a range of buttons for managing what you’re watching, and comes with a ‘find my remote’ feature. The remote works with AAA batteries, has a motion-activated backlight for using buttons in a dark room, and a voice search function for using Google Assistant.
As mentioned, the more expensive ‘Pro’ model bumps the RAM to 3GB, and includes 16GB in-built storage compared to the Shield TV (2019)’s 8GB. It also has two USB 3.0 ports, a greater selection of compatible Android games and support for the Plex Media Server.
All in all, the new Shield TV is an impressive-looking set-top box, and we’re looking forward to putting it through its paces soon.
