Nvidia has released an update for its Shield TV media players. This update introduces, among other things, the match frame rate option on the 2015 and 2017 models. In addition, improvements have been made to the latest remote control and the AI upscaling feature.
The update, called Shield Software Experience Upgrade 8.2, is the 25th update for owners of the original Shield TV, released in May 2015. This version and the one from 2017 did not yet have the match frame rate option, as the 2019 variants of the Shield TV do. This will now change with update 8.2. The match frame rate option gives users the option to match the output of the Shield TV with the frame rate and dynamic range of the displayed content. As a result, the played video is not converted and any judder of the image must be omitted. However, this feature is still in beta, must be manually activated and will not work with all apps and content.
An impression of the upscaling function: the situation without AI Upscaling (left) and the result after applying this function
Another innovation that the new update brings is an improvement of the AI upscaling function. This feature, which upscales images to 4k resolution, is available exclusively on the two 2019 Shield TVs and has been limited to upscaling content in up to 1080p at 30fps until now. That now works with content from 360p to 1440p. The Shield TV Pro is the only device that also supports 60fps content. The upscaling function now also works with HD videos in YouTube and live sports broadcasts on HD TVs. In September, 4k-60fps upscaling will be added to the Geforce NOW service through an update to the Nvidia Games app.
Furthermore, the triangular remote control of the latest Shield TV devices has been improved, so that users can use the remote via an infrared signal to adjust the input source of televisions, receivers or sound bars. Furthermore, the support for adjusting the volume via the HDMI component cec or infrared has been expanded, so that this is now also possible with digital projectors. The update should also make it possible to adjust the volume when the Shield TV is turned off. Furthermore, it is now possible to use the freely adjustable button at the top right of the remote control in combination with a double press or a long press; there are 25 actions that can be set as a shortcut for this.
Finally, native support has been added for the smbv3 communication protocol, enabling faster and more secure connections between the PC and the Shield TV media players, according to Nvidia. Using smbv3 now also works without the need for a Plex media server.
The latest 2019 models with the signature triangular remote control.