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
Netflix in 4K and HEVC Decode
The NVIDIA SHIELD is currently the only Netflix 4K-certified set-top box in the market. This certification involves two important requirements:
- Presence of a HDMI 2.0 port with HDCP 2.2 capability
- Presence of a hardware decoder for HEVC Main and Main10 profiles
NVIDIA was the first in the PC space to bring HDMI 2.0 together with HDCP 2.2 support as well as a hardware decoder for HEVC in the GTX 960. They are also extending this lead to the SoC space with the Tegra X1. Thus, the NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV has turned out to be the first set-top box to meet Netflix's criteria for 4K certification.
The UltraHD-capable Netflix streaming plan is the highest-end one, coming in at $11.99 per month before taxes. If the SHIELD is connected to a HDMI 2.0 4Kp60 sink supporting HDCP 2.2 and the Netflix account is on a supported plan, the Netflix app's UI presents a row of Ultra HD 4K streams in addition to the generic categories. We tested out Netflix 4K on a Samsung HU6950 without an AV receiver inbetween.
Netflix has a special test stream that shows the characteristics of the currently playing stream. As expected, the SHIELD had no trouble in getting to the 4K encode.
In the adaptive streaming process, we came across a host of different encodes. They are listed in the gallery below.
Regular readers of our HTPC reviews might remember that the Windows 8.1 Netflix app tops out with a 5.8 Mbps 1080p H.264 stream. On devices with HEVC support, it appears that this is replaced by a 5.16 Mbps HEVC Main10 stream at the same resolution. There is also a higher bit-rate version (6.96 Mbps) with similar characteristics. Beyond that, we have the 4K stream at 9.6 Mbps. Unfortunately, we don't know the exact characteristics of the encode, but, based on the immediately preceding lower bit-rate streams, it is probably a HEVC Main10 encode too.
The Netflix app gives us an indication that the SHIELD has no trouble with HEVC. In order to confirm this, we put our HEVC test suite through Android's native Video Player.
The video shows perfect playback of 4Kp24, 4Kp25 and 4Kp30 HEVC Main and Main10 profile streams. For 4Kp60, we only have Main profile videos, and the SHIELD has no trouble with that.
On one hand, it is nice to see the SHIELD Android TV's 4K Netflix capabilities as well as support for high frame-rate HEVC playback in a power-efficient system. Though the 4K TV adoption rate is still very low - it's the start of what will be a long process - of anything and everything NVIDIA needed to do to secure their spot as the set top box to have for 4K TVs, getting Netflix 4K support in place is it.
On the other hand, it also reminds us of the sorry state of HTPCs with respect to HDMI 2.0, HDCP 2.2 and HEVC playback. For enthusiasts, it is imperative that PCs catch up soon, given that local media streaming is not a focus point for the SHIELD.
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ganeshts - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link
From NV: "we do not have an empty HDD bay in the 16GB sku. Users will not be able to add their own HDD into the 16GB sku."ZOONAMI - Friday, May 29, 2015 - link
Wow thank you for prompt reply!Cami Hongell - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link
Tellybean is the first video call service on Android TV and the SHIELD is the first device that works with a regular Logitech camera. Try it out and please let us know what you think. http://eepurl.com/blSzU9vdek - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link
How does the performance compare to the XB1 and PS4? Those would seem to be the two immediate competitors for this device. It seems like Anandtech has grown too focused on comparing everything to Tablets/phones...kron123456789 - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link
"How does the performance compare to the XB1 and PS4?" — It doesn't. This is just hardware:Sheild Android TV — 256 CUDA cores(at ~1GHz), 16ROPs, 16TMUs, 3GB of RAM with 25.6GB/sec bandwidth
Xbox One — 768 GCN cores(at 853MHz), 16ROPs, 48TMUs, 8GB of RAM with 68.2GB/sec bandwidth
PS4 — 1152 GCN cores(at 800MHz), 32ROPs, 72TMUs, 8GB of RAM with 176GB/sec bandwidth
ppi - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link
Given that basically all TVs now are "smart", what are real advantages of device such as this one over a Smart TV? I am talking video and content playback, of course.While I do not own 4K TV, my 1080p Samsung has no trouble playing HD YouTube and variety of formats from USB disk.
jt122333221 - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link
More content should be available on Android TV, and it's more likely to be updated than your TVs. Also, there are a lot of people who don't have a Smart TV and who would prefer NOT using their TV's smart features (I despise mine, the interface is horrible, apps are abysmal; only reason I have it is because it came with the TV I wanted).Yojimbo - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link
I have a Samsung smart tv and it's slow, slow, slow.jeffkibuule - Thursday, May 28, 2015 - link
When's the last time your TV got a meaningful software update?TheJian - Friday, May 29, 2015 - link
You did see the gaming benchmarks right? If that wasn't a major point for the user, not sure why you would pay for this here other than playing all kinds of formats from your USB drives (flash etc), across the network (smart tv's usually not good at that either). Not to mention Grid gaming, which eliminates much of the need for a high end PC and constantly buying $60 games (be it console or PC).You have to be looking at this for more than just vids I think. IE you can do anything android devices can do. Meaning play their games, browse the web etc. I can sit on the couch and browse with a keyboard and mouse with this and a big screen (saving me a fat foot after 8hrs at work and some home time also on top). Too bad anandtech didn't bother to use it like this and comment.
I think SMART tv's are actually pretty stupid. They basically can stream some crap from netflix, youtube, amazon etc and not much more. Now if your tv has roku built-in or something, ok maybe sort of smarter but even that lacks major formats (really just has far more channels than smart tv's). My roku 2/3's are useless for USB sticks on about 80% of my content. I end up sticking it in the bluray player instead as most of the time it either can't play the audio or can't play the video.
If all you're after is movies and some streaming, I'd probably rather have a bluray player for $79-$99 that plays almost all formats from USB and streams fine, not to mention playing all disc formats (LG, BP350 $79 or something). Or even just a roku2 (new model with faster chip or roku 3 if using headphones in remote is needed) if just after streaming stuff but again, from usb sucks here, so I'm just talking web streaming vids.