The NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV Review: A Premium 4K Set Top Box
by Ganesh T S on May 28, 2015 3:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Media Streamer
- Home Theater
- TV
- 4K
- Shield
- NVIDIA
Local Media Playback Evaluation
The announcement of the SHIELD Android TV box generated a lot of interest amongst media streaming enthusiasts. It has continued to this date. Given that most of them prefer local media playback to OTT streaming, there has been marked interest in the local media playback capabilities of the unit. In this section, we attempt to set the expectations right on the various relevant aspects.
Display Refresh Rate
The Android TV framework forces the interface and most apps to run at 60 Hz. Obviously, a 24 fps film needs to be pulled-down with a 3:2 cadence to let the display be refreshed at 60 Hz. This creates a judder effect. Apps such as TVHZ were created to resolve this issue, but needs manual intervention prior to media playback. Kodi's currently existing 'sync refresh rate to playback frame rate' option doesn't work, but a fix is probably coming soon.
Codecs Licensing
Unlike a PC, the SHIELD Android TV is an embedded system. Therefore, codec support involves NVIDIA signing licensing deals. For example, support for Dolby Digital / Dolby Digital Plus requires deals with Dolby Laboratories, while DTS / DTS-HD support requires deals with DTS. On the video side, H.264 support, for example, requires a deal with MPEG-LA. Each of these deals ends up increasing the end cost for the consumer. In order to hit an acceptable price point while ensuring all necessary components for OTT streaming (SHIELD's primary market) are in place, NVIDIA has signed deals for the following audio/video codecs only:
- H.264
- H.265
- VP9
- Dolby Digital (Update: only bitstreaming, no internal decode to PCM)
- Dolby Digital Plus (Update: only bitstreaming, no internal decode to PCM)
This means that the native Android Video Player can only play back the above codecs (in addition to the free-to-decode / play ones such as PCM audio). This also means that the SHIELD Android TV will not be doing any HD audio bitstreaming in the near future unless things chance on the licensing front.
That said, players such as Kodi, MX Player etc. can opt to use pure software decoding when hardware decoding is not available. It is also possible for app vendors to purchase the license themselves and then work with NVIDIA to get hardware acceleration / support for that. For example, SiliconDust (the vendor behind HDHomeRun) is doing it with their Live TV app in order to get hardware decoding enabled for MPEG-2.
Attempting 480i60 MPEG-2 Playback with the Native Android Video Player
Video Post Processing
Deinterlacing and pull-down detection / IVTC are essential for watching certain live TV channels and other interlaced content. NVIDIA only guarantees video post processing for the licensed codecs that go through their hardwrae decoder. Third-party players will need to work with NVIDIA to ensure that any software decoded streams are correctly hooked up to the post-processing chain.
We tried processing the HQV Benchmark videos on the SHIELD to get an objective evaluation of the SHIELD's post-processing capabilities, but unfortunately the MPEG-2 encoded streams were not processed properly when decoded in software on Kodi.
Experimenting with Kodi
The Kodi 15.0 beta 1 APK is available for sideloading on to the SHIELD Android TV. On the bitstreaming side, we could only select DTS and Dolby Digital, and Kodi had no problems bitstreaming those streams.
We played back our test streams from a Samsung T1 portable SSD attached to the USB 3.0 port. HEVC streams played back with hardware acceleration inside the Kodi interface, but Kodi had trouble with TS files. For hardware-accelerated codecs, the power consumption at the wall was around 6 W. For software-decoded ones such as our 1080i60 VC-1 clip, the power consumption shot up to 11.5 W.
The SHIELD Android TV / Kodi combination has absolutely no trouble with the vanilla H.264 files that people usually rip their Blu-rays to. Fortunately, despite the lack of MPEG-2 and VC-1 licenses, Kodi's software decode is efficient enough to not cause frame drops. The absence of deinterlacing is an issue, but that should hopefully get resolved soon.
Based on our evaluation, the SHIELD Android TV is definitely not a comprehensive HTPC replacement - particularly from the local media playback viewpoint. That said, it does have support for all major OTT services and Live TV as well as future DVR capabilities (thanks to Android TV). For a certain set of users, it is possible that the SHIELD can replace their HTPC. However, one needs to remember that the unit is an embedded system with plenty of constraints and doesn't have the same openness and flexibility that a HTPC has to offer.
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Morawka - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link
the chip and the wires (hdmi) have the necessary bandwidth, so shouldn't be a issue.Haydon987 - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link
Shouldn't be in the case of dozens of currently existing devices, but in every case so far of any publicly available hardware I've seen, all encrypted content comes out 4:2:0 at 4k, so it would be nice for a vendor to acknowledge if it plays 4k hdcp 2.2 at 4:4:4 or just plays unencrypted stuff (like games, menus, ads, etc.) at 4:4:4 at 4k. Until a vendor specifically states it, I have my doubts. Sure all the features are listed to make it sound good to people who don't look too deeply into it, but they don't state when the features are interoperable.It's like a person listing for a spec sheet about themselves:
1. I can run 17 miles per hour
2. I can run 25 miles
This does not mean that this person can run 25 miles at 17 miles per hour. They are just 2 separately listed specs. Chances are they only maintain that speed for a few seconds.
In this case what is most likely:
1. I can play without color compression (4:4:4)
2. I can play protected content at 4k (hdcp 2.2), but I won't tell you if that is compressed or not.
ganeshts - Friday, May 29, 2015 - link
That is definitely an interesting question, but it is somewhat moot.. let me explain:Getting specs out of the way, the SHIELD does support RGB 4:4:4 at 4Kp60 on the HDMI port.
Now, all video content that consumers play back - Netflix or Blu-rays and the like - they are all encoded in 4:2:0 - In this case, the consumer has nothing to gain or lose whether the conversion to 4:4:4 is done on the source side or the sink side. So, HDCP 2.2 with just 4:2:0 support is fine.
On the other hand, for professional applications, where content is processed in 4:2:2 or even 4:4:4 format, it will be a problem - but, it is likely that the workflow process in that case doesn't involve protected content - the protection is applied / needed only on the consumer delivery side.
Again, this is an interesting aspect, and one that I will definitely be questioning HDMI source / sink vendors on. It is just that it doesn't matter for consumer applications.
457R4LDR34DKN07 - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link
I'm interested in trying this with a hdhomerun prime with the live tv app. Does this android tv device support mpeg 2 decoding?457R4LDR34DKN07 - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link
"The typical media library also includes TV programs that are interlaced MPEG-2 (for example). The SHIELD is currently not a good solution for such a case."Thanks, not for me then
Ryan Smith - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link
The Live Channels app supports hardware MPEG-2 decoding, including deinterlacing. That functionality just isn't available to other media playback applications, since it was licensed for just the Live Channels app.DanCar - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link
The recommendation row can be turned off partially or fully in settings -> System Preferences (3rd row) -> home screenYou can select which sources to enable and disable.
ganeshts - Saturday, May 30, 2015 - link
Somehow, I am not able to follow the path you are referring to..Under settings, I have Device > System, and under that nothing about Home Screen.. Do you have a video or set of screenshots showing the path?
I know that it is possible to go into the settings of a particular app and turn off the Notifications for that app - on Android TV, that turns off the 'Recommendations' - this is what I had done for the YouTube video showing the Android TV UI. The Recommendations row doesn't seem to have an option to turn it off completely..
BuddyRich - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link
I was hoping they spent the money and licensed the codecs but no HD Audio or DTS (or MPEG2 or VC1) is a bummer. At least in the case of the video codecs the CPU is fast enough to decode in software. Will not replace my HTPC. Its funny they license them for their videocards, including their cheapest passive ones but not their premium set-top box. And the box doesn't even have to decode it, just pass it through to a receive, that shouldn't require a license at all.One thing that was unclear in your review though, if I use HDHomerun/Live TV app will it decode and deinterlace MPEG2 via hardware since the app is licensed? If so is this supported on Shield like it is on Nexus Player?
At least they shipped with working Netflix, unlike Razor.
webdoctors - Friday, May 29, 2015 - link
Why is a license needed if its just bit-streaming? If i connect it to my amp and my amp separates the hdmi video from the audio signals, why would the licensing matter on this box?