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
Power Consumption and Thermal Performance
In order to see what the power and thermal characteristics of the SHIELD Android TV are like, the device was tested in two scenarions:
- 1080p60 HDMI output to Pioneer VSX-32, connected to a Sony KDL46EX720 46" 1080p TV. Connected to a wired network, with a Samsung T1 SSD hanging off the USB 3.0 port
- 4Kp60 HDMI output to a Samsung HU6950 40" 4K TV. Connected to a wireless network, with a Samsung T1 SSD hanging off the USB 3.0 port.
The table below summarizes the important power consumption numbers.
| NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV Power Consumption | |
| Activity | Avg. Power (W) |
| Idle (Scenario 1) | 3.6 W |
| 1080p Netflix Streaming (Scenario 1) | 4.6 W |
| 1080p YouTube Streaming (Scenario 1) | 4.7 W |
| Kodi Playback (Hardware Accelerated 1080p60 H.264) (Scenario 1) | 6.5 W |
| Kodi Playback (Software Decoding 1080i60 VC-1) (Scenario 1) | 10.4 W |
| Idle (Scenario 2) | 4.2 W |
| 4K HEVC Playback (Scenario 2) | 9.1 W |
| 4K Netflix Streaming (Scenario 2) | 10.3 W |
| Gaming (Scenario 2) | 19.4 W |
Since the gaming scenarios stressed the at-wall power consumption heavily, we decided to run the GFXBench battery life test which puts the T-Rex benchmark in an infinite loop. After 2 hours, we took a thermal image of the unit (oriented vertically with the SHIELD stand).
The thermal solution is excellent, and the frame rates were consistent across all the benchmark runs. Thanks to the low-power SoC, the chassis temperature was just 34 C (ambient at 23 C). The fan noise was audible only when we kept our ears against the vents in the back panel.
Moving on to the business end of the review, we split up the positives and negatives into two sections - one for Android TV itself, and the other for the SHIELD.
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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?