The NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet Review
by Joshua Ho on July 29, 2014 9:00 AM ESTDisplay
While this device is targeted towards gaming, as a tablet it also needs a great display. In order to better test this, we turn to our custom workflow in CalMAN 5 to get a better idea of how good the display is. To start, we’ll look at the basics and move on from there. All of these tests were done with sRGB as it provides the best results.
Unfortunately, it seems that the display is a bit dim compared to the competition. It’s still well within spec and plenty bright for indoor usage, but outdoors it won’t be as easy to read. Contrast is definitely up to par though, and as far as I can tell in normal usage image-dependent dimming is disabled, so the display has a relatively high native contrast.
In the grayscale test, NVIDIA has done a relatively good job in keeping a balanced white point, although error ends up a bit high relative to what we’ve seen recently. It’s definitely acceptable for most users, at any rate. It's important to note here that the grayscale accuracy error average is not just a measurement of RGB color balance, as vision also depends upon the luminance aspect to be correct.
The saturation test is where things start to fall apart. Unfortunately, it’s quite clear that the backlight used in this device just doesn’t have pure enough wavelengths for red and blue, and the result is that the gamut is well below sRGB, around what we see for the iPhone 4/4s and iPad mini line. This may be an attempt to improve power consumption, but I suspect that most are willing to forgo some battery life for a higher quality display. NVIDIA’s sRGB calibration is good up to the 80% saturation mark, but everything else past that point will have the same color, so it’s clear that NVIDIA’s display calibration tries to make do with what it has.
As expected, the ColorChecker shows the results of the poor gamut and some issues present in the grayscale. Error ends up relatively high. The display is still decent, but relative to the competition it doesn’t stack up very well.
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fivefeet8 - Tuesday, July 29, 2014 - link
Maybe if Nvidia made a gamepad that was attachable to the Tablet and with good weight distribution. But then the Tablet is much larger though.tipoo - Tuesday, July 29, 2014 - link
I'm very curious to see the K1 version with two Denver CPU cores instead of four Cortex A15s.MonkeyPaw - Tuesday, July 29, 2014 - link
"There are still frame drops involved in scrolling through lists and similar areas where Android has traditionally struggled to stay smooth, but Android L should fix this issue for the most part."I chuckled when I read this. How many versions of Android have promised smooth UI frame rates? Since 4.1?
MS could get Tegra3 to smooth-scroll Windows!
CharonPDX - Tuesday, July 29, 2014 - link
Wow. When your "final words" section begins with "If I’m honest, it’s hard for me to review tablets... ... I’ve never really found a use for them." then I have to ask, why are you reviewing it?Shouldn't someone else at Anand be doing this review?
DarkStryke - Tuesday, July 29, 2014 - link
You hit it around here. Many of the non-Anand reviews the last while have been pretty average at best.bigstrudel - Tuesday, July 29, 2014 - link
Qualcomm has met its match here. That's what they get for leaning on Krait so long.fivefeet8 - Tuesday, July 29, 2014 - link
Qualcomm makes good SOC's but unfortunately their drivers suck in comparison. Hopefully they've increased investment on that part with their new Adreno 420.kgh00007 - Tuesday, July 29, 2014 - link
It's a pity that the review wasn't done by somebody who actually likes tablets or uses one daily to give a more subjective opinion, based on the fact that they actually use a tablet.For me I use one every day, mainly for reading articles like this on the web, the nexus 7 2013 is a perfect device for that sort of useage.
It's also a pity that the screen does not match up to the nexus 7 2013, I don't want to buy a tablet with a lesser screen regardless of specs!
Thanks for the review though!
name99 - Tuesday, July 29, 2014 - link
Why do you need a camera for "Twitch streaming"? Isn't the whole point of twitch streaming that you see what's happening on the TABLET?Is there something I'm missing here?
fivefeet8 - Tuesday, July 29, 2014 - link
It does both at the same time. It records what's on the Tablet and has a Pic-n-Pic of the camera video.