Thanks a lot for the great overview of the Sheild. I'm looking to upgrade my Kodi system (currently a RPi2/OpenELEC setup) to something more beefy, and this might fit the bill. I've been trying to find the answer to one final question however - how good is the HDMI CEC control? At the moment, I'm using my LG magic remote (the one you used in this video) to control OpenELEC on the RPi2 and it's great. I want to keep a one remote setup (avoiding slow IR-based Harmony remotes). Do you know if the LG magic remote would be able to control the Shield?
+rfrancoi I found it funny how he stated at that moment that he won't do it... then he went on and did a full unboxing anyway and then skipped it over anyway. Talk about indecisive! LOL
Thanks for the nice review. Is this box support full 1080p and 4k resolution for RUclips streaming through youtube app? Does this box support 3D video playback? Can we download most of the apps like mobile android devices from google play? How is the xbmc and vlc apps performance for the 4K and 1080p videos through the HDMI port which I believe is 4K native? Thanks for your help.
MrFixer1983 I like it a lot, but it is missing a context menu button, which means if you regularly use the context menu you may need to consider using something else. For me, for the rare times I use the context menu, I just open my Kodi Remote for iOS or Kore.
KordKutters Ok, so a PlayStation 3 bt remote will also work? At my home I use 2 off those cheap HP mce remotes for my 2 kodi setups, I like to have enough buttons to change subtitles and and audio tracks.
+MrFixer1983 I know this comment thread was from 6 months ago, but just in case anyone is still interested or stumbles across this in the future I want to comment. My Shield came with a game controller and a smaller remote. I believe the smaller remote works with it through bluetooth, and the game controller works through wifi-direct. The game controller CAN do the context menu in Kodi. I don't remember for sure, but I got it to work with one of the buttons above one of the trigger buttons. (I don't remember if it was right or left.) The smaller, remote cannot do the context menu, which makes it completely unsuitable for use in Kodi, in my opinion. I'm constantly using the context menu, and there are a lot of options in Kodi that you can't get to any other way. Having said that, what I really wanted to do was control Kodi with the same Logitech Harmony 650 remote that I use for everything else in my home theater setup. Thankfully, the Shield also has an infrared receiver, and the MyHarmony software has a profile for the NVIDIA Shield. Setting that up was easy and it works...EXCEPT the Shield profile for the Harmony remotes for some reason also leaves out any way to get at the context menu! I was pretty frustrated by that, but I now have a working setup. I took the Flirc USB device that I used to use with Kodi on a Raspberry Pi, and plugged it in to one of the USB ports on the Shield, and I added a Flirc profile to my Harmony remote so I could map a few additional buttons from my remote. That way, I got a context menu, and I'm also able to create a keymap for Kodi that lets me use the colored red/yellow/green/blue buttons on my remote by mapping them to specific functions in Kodi. I'm now happy, but I wouldn't have had to jump through those hoops and add a Flirc to the mix if NVIDIA would just include a way to invoke the context menu with the profile they supply to Logitech.
minh8080 According to Anandtech it does bistream DD and DD+. It doesn't internally decode to PCM though so you will need a compatible AV receiver if you want to play files with DD. No lossless codecs (like DD-MA and DTS-Hd) but on the forums an Nvidia rep said they are looking into the possibility of adding this via an OTA update
I'm replaying your Q .. I have Onkyo receiver and it support DTS-MA .. So with kodi and shield dose will work smoothly ?! Another Q.. Dose Kodi support srt file from any language ?!
Daniel Franceschi I'm fairly sure those are the same thing. But it is listed in the Android TV section of Google Play, so should be accessible for the Shield. - Nate
should I buy the shield if I only need it for kodi? really worth the money over the others boxes? would I be able to stream at least 1080p movies and tv shows with my 50mbps internet with less or no buffering at all?
hi there can you tell me if if team viewer is possible with this ie someone being able to access the kodi system through it? i want someone to set it up for me u see
Shield / Kodi Platform. I"m having issues with buffering and video lag/freeze , which is disappointing because this is the reason I purchased the NVidia shield. Do you have any information on tweaking settings to minimize the buffering issues.
I am using a quad core mx3 andoid box right now for streaming movies on kodi most of the time Genesis. I'm just wondering will the picture quality look better on the shield. Becuz iv seen my brother new PC with a great GPU and CPU and it looks great much better running kodi. Just wondering it might just be me or is this true. Thanks
Kevin Desousa I do not know, how Android plays into this (if it limits the GPU in any way), but from the pure hardware-perspective the Shield's GPU is a from Nvidia's Maxwell Series of GPUs, so that means it should have the seventh generation of PureVideo HD which means it complies with the VDPAU Feature Set E, which would mean it would be very good at scaling and deinterlacing and do some optional picture-post-processing. However there were Nvidia GPUs in the past who complied to a certain feature set but in reality hadn't enough shader performace to apply those to 1080i/p-video. If the Nvidia Shield's GPU has as much or more performance than a Nvidia GT220, it would be very good for up to Full-HD, I don't know about 4K though (GT220 doesn't 4K anyway). BTW there are articles about both Nvidia PureVideo and VDPAU on wikipedia, which might help you. Intel- and AMD-GPUs are worse in terms of HTPC-picture-quality, especially on Linux and assumingly therefor on Android, too.
Is it easy to copy config files to the userdata folder of Kodi on the Nvidia Shield? It's really easy to do on the Amazon Fire TV using the Samba Share Android app. Just curious how this one compares
+John Doe I'm not sure if you're still trying to find the answer to that question, but I've been wondering the same thing, since I really need that capability. I don't know the answer today, but my Shield should arrive tomorrow and I'll try to remember to come back here to let you know what I find out.
Steve Trottier Try this: www.jocala.com/adbshield.html I haven't tried it yet. I had a Samba server running on my AFTV, it was so easy to get files onto it. I could even access files on a HDD connected to the AFTV thru its USB.
+John Doe Sorry, I forgot to come back here to report on accessing the userdata folder. I installed an app directly on the Shield through the Google Play store called ES File Explorer File Manager. play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.estrongs.android.pop Although the interface to that app is pretty quirky on Android TV, I have been able to use it to successfully copy files between the userdata folder and an SMB share on my network. I can also use it to directly edit text files, if I attach a bluetooth or usb keyboard (I use the bluetooth keyboard that I previous purchased for a Mac mini.) The app you linked to sounds interesting. I might try that to see if it's any easier.
saamejia is execellent video thank you for sharing..Help please ...I thinking to buy this device nvidia shield but I need some help before I can get it ..can this device plays mv4 video format I have some videos from handbrake my video have two audios lenguage it can play two audios and they have AC3 5.1 AUDIO ......also it can SRT subtitles format .....it can play more than 4 gb size video file and my last question what kind of HHD format can play ---fat 32-- ntfs----or mac extender jouneral hopefully you can help me thank you...
Does anybody know how to download Kodi 16.1 Jarvis on the Nvidia shield. Currently using the new 17.0 Krypton but it doesn't seem to support as many builds as 16.1. The only way I know how to download Kodi onto Nvidia shield is via the play store which makes you download the 17.0 Krypton. Any advice ?
Don't suppose anyone could tell me how I can save films and series to favourites? I'm a bit of a tec spaz but I've never had an issue with saving to favourites on any of my other boxes but I can seem to find a button on the remote or pad that allows me to do it. Save the insults I openly admit I'm shit with technology.
So The answer to this question will determine if i'm getting one of these or not. Does Kodi for ShieldTV function, browse to, and play most everything that it's desktop PC counterpart does? I currently use Kodi on an old Core2Duo Mac Mini and am looking to retire that box. And all my media is on a Windows share.
This looks like something my parents could get use to quickly and find easy to use for their movies.
I really liked you in Planes, Trains & Automobiles & Uncle Buck...
Thanks a lot for the great overview of the Sheild. I'm looking to upgrade my Kodi system (currently a RPi2/OpenELEC setup) to something more beefy, and this might fit the bill.
I've been trying to find the answer to one final question however - how good is the HDMI CEC control? At the moment, I'm using my LG magic remote (the one you used in this video) to control OpenELEC on the RPi2 and it's great. I want to keep a one remote setup (avoiding slow IR-based Harmony remotes). Do you know if the LG magic remote would be able to control the Shield?
+1 banana for scale lol. Effective video.
Great video. LOVE the way you skipped over the "unboxing". I agree that they are extremely boring.
+rfrancoi I found it funny how he stated at that moment that he won't do it... then he went on and did a full unboxing anyway and then skipped it over anyway. Talk about indecisive! LOL
Might as well stop at 8:10
Why go thru the effort of showing 4k video when the max resolution for this video is 720p?
Thanks for the nice review. Is this box support full 1080p and 4k resolution for RUclips streaming through youtube app? Does this box support 3D video playback? Can we download most of the apps like mobile android devices from google play? How is the xbmc and vlc apps performance for the 4K and 1080p videos through the HDMI port which I believe is 4K native? Thanks for your help.
Very cool! I'm going to have to buy me one of these ^_^
I just bought the Nvidia Shield earlier this month.. All I play is Asphalt 8 and bowling..
Love the Vevo and love the Kodi.
Why is Netflix with the shield hub and not with the other apps?
Will this unit pass Bitstream DTS-HD & DOLBY TrueHD over HDMI?
+KordKutters any head-way made on registering Kodi content in the Android TV interface (as you mentioned) for voice search ability? Thanks
"Here is the console and here is a banana."
I luld.
Nice video, how is the remote working with Kodi?
MrFixer1983 I like it a lot, but it is missing a context menu button, which means if you regularly use the context menu you may need to consider using something else. For me, for the rare times I use the context menu, I just open my Kodi Remote for iOS or Kore.
KordKutters ok is there a option tot use another remote for kodi?
MrFixer1983 Any bluetooth remote works. And there's evidently an integrated IR Receiver, but I've not tried using that.
KordKutters Ok, so a PlayStation 3 bt remote will also work? At my home I use 2 off those cheap HP mce remotes for my 2 kodi setups, I like to have enough buttons to change subtitles and and audio tracks.
+MrFixer1983 I know this comment thread was from 6 months ago, but just in case anyone is still interested or stumbles across this in the future I want to comment. My Shield came with a game controller and a smaller remote. I believe the smaller remote works with it through bluetooth, and the game controller works through wifi-direct. The game controller CAN do the context menu in Kodi. I don't remember for sure, but I got it to work with one of the buttons above one of the trigger buttons. (I don't remember if it was right or left.) The smaller, remote cannot do the context menu, which makes it completely unsuitable for use in Kodi, in my opinion. I'm constantly using the context menu, and there are a lot of options in Kodi that you can't get to any other way.
Having said that, what I really wanted to do was control Kodi with the same Logitech Harmony 650 remote that I use for everything else in my home theater setup. Thankfully, the Shield also has an infrared receiver, and the MyHarmony software has a profile for the NVIDIA Shield. Setting that up was easy and it works...EXCEPT the Shield profile for the Harmony remotes for some reason also leaves out any way to get at the context menu!
I was pretty frustrated by that, but I now have a working setup. I took the Flirc USB device that I used to use with Kodi on a Raspberry Pi, and plugged it in to one of the USB ports on the Shield, and I added a Flirc profile to my Harmony remote so I could map a few additional buttons from my remote. That way, I got a context menu, and I'm also able to create a keymap for Kodi that lets me use the colored red/yellow/green/blue buttons on my remote by mapping them to specific functions in Kodi. I'm now happy, but I wouldn't have had to jump through those hoops and add a Flirc to the mix if NVIDIA would just include a way to invoke the context menu with the profile they supply to Logitech.
KordKutters was the remote control packaged with the console or did you buy seperately
Leonardo Pudicomp The remote comes separately.
Dose the Shield passthough DTS and DD okay?
minh8080 According to Anandtech it does bistream DD and DD+. It doesn't internally decode to PCM though so you will need a compatible AV receiver if you want to play files with DD.
No lossless codecs (like DD-MA and DTS-Hd) but on the forums an Nvidia rep said they are looking into the possibility of adding this via an OTA update
I'm replaying your Q ..
I have Onkyo receiver and it support DTS-MA ..
So with kodi and shield dose will work smoothly ?!
Another Q..
Dose Kodi support srt file from any language ?!
+David Jones Any update on DTS-HD & Dolby TrueHD passthru over HDMI?
Hi,
Great review!!!
Can Netflix output 1080p/24fps on the Nvidia Shield?
According to the main web site nvidia it support Netflix 4k 👌
interesting point, have you tested 1080p H.265 on Shield with Kodi?
Dj AnVi I'm not sure what this is in reference to, but I believe I have. I tested quite a lot of h265 content.
Excellent video
Kodi now offered on Google play, is it on shield play store?
Daniel Franceschi I'm fairly sure those are the same thing. But it is listed in the Android TV section of Google Play, so should be accessible for the Shield. - Nate
I want to upgrade my Android box do you think this is one of the best available...I love technology and gaming so sounds a no brainer
How did you get recently add movies and TV shows on start up on kodi
jim russell It's in the Skin-options.
Is the audio working on KOdi, from the shield controller? Coz mine doesnt. Need help
i have minix iptv at the moment which is team viewer supported
should I buy the shield if I only need it for kodi? really worth the money over the others boxes? would I be able to stream at least 1080p movies and tv shows with my 50mbps internet with less or no buffering at all?
I just put Kodi on my FireTV....it's awesome.
Can someone point me in the right direction on Kodi vs Plex on this. The Plex icon was there but never discussed.
hi there can you tell me if if team viewer is possible with this ie someone being able to access the kodi system through it?
i want someone to set it up for me u see
Shield / Kodi Platform. I"m having issues with buffering and video lag/freeze , which is disappointing because this is the reason I purchased the NVidia shield. Do you have any information on tweaking settings to minimize the buffering issues.
Tell me at 10:11 in the video it dont get weirddd.
I am using a quad core mx3 andoid box right now for streaming movies on kodi most of the time Genesis. I'm just wondering will the picture quality look better on the shield. Becuz iv seen my brother new PC with a great GPU and CPU and it looks great much better running kodi. Just wondering it might just be me or is this true. Thanks
Kevin Desousa I do not know, how Android plays into this (if it limits the GPU in any way), but from the pure hardware-perspective the Shield's GPU is a from Nvidia's Maxwell Series of GPUs, so that means it should have the seventh generation of PureVideo HD which means it complies with the VDPAU Feature Set E, which would mean it would be very good at scaling and deinterlacing and do some optional picture-post-processing. However there were Nvidia GPUs in the past who complied to a certain feature set but in reality hadn't enough shader performace to apply those to 1080i/p-video. If the Nvidia Shield's GPU has as much or more performance than a Nvidia GT220, it would be very good for up to Full-HD, I don't know about 4K though (GT220 doesn't 4K anyway).
BTW there are articles about both Nvidia PureVideo and VDPAU on wikipedia, which might help you. Intel- and AMD-GPUs are worse in terms of HTPC-picture-quality, especially on Linux and assumingly therefor on Android, too.
can i uprogram my bose solo universal remote to control this?
Wichita! Go Shockers!!!
+realtalkcali realtalkcali Rock Chalk. :)
Is it easy to copy config files to the userdata folder of Kodi on the Nvidia Shield? It's really easy to do on the Amazon Fire TV using the Samba Share Android app. Just curious how this one compares
+John Doe I'm not sure if you're still trying to find the answer to that question, but I've been wondering the same thing, since I really need that capability. I don't know the answer today, but my Shield should arrive tomorrow and I'll try to remember to come back here to let you know what I find out.
Steve Trottier Try this:
www.jocala.com/adbshield.html
I haven't tried it yet. I had a Samba server running on my AFTV, it was so easy to get files onto it. I could even access files on a HDD connected to the AFTV thru its USB.
+John Doe Sorry, I forgot to come back here to report on accessing the userdata folder. I installed an app directly on the Shield through the Google Play store called ES File Explorer File Manager. play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.estrongs.android.pop
Although the interface to that app is pretty quirky on Android TV, I have been able to use it to successfully copy files between the userdata folder and an SMB share on my network. I can also use it to directly edit text files, if I attach a bluetooth or usb keyboard (I use the bluetooth keyboard that I previous purchased for a Mac mini.)
The app you linked to sounds interesting. I might try that to see if it's any easier.
Steve Trottier Here's another thing to try:
forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/general/how-to-share-usb-drives-connected-to-t3015889
so nvidea shield is better then fire tv via ethernet
???
The best android box for kodi nothing can beat it.
How well does it run using Wi-Fi??
it runs great
Great video ;)
saamejia is execellent video thank you for sharing..Help please ...I thinking to buy this device nvidia shield but I need some help before I can get it ..can this device plays mv4 video format I have some videos from handbrake my video have two audios lenguage it can play two audios and they have AC3 5.1 AUDIO ......also it can SRT subtitles format .....it can play more than 4 gb size video file and my last question what kind of HHD format can play ---fat 32-- ntfs----or mac extender jouneral hopefully you can help me thank you...
Does anybody know how to download Kodi 16.1 Jarvis on the Nvidia shield. Currently using the new 17.0 Krypton but it doesn't seem to support as many builds as 16.1. The only way I know how to download Kodi onto Nvidia shield is via the play store which makes you download the 17.0 Krypton. Any advice ?
Don't suppose anyone could tell me how I can save films and series to favourites? I'm a bit of a tec spaz but I've never had an issue with saving to favourites on any of my other boxes but I can seem to find a button on the remote or pad that allows me to do it.
Save the insults I openly admit I'm shit with technology.
So The answer to this question will determine if i'm getting one of these or not.
Does Kodi for ShieldTV function, browse to, and play most everything that it's desktop PC counterpart does? I currently use Kodi on an old Core2Duo Mac Mini and am looking to retire that box. And all my media is on a Windows share.
It should fairly easily replicate everything a core 2 duo could do.
KordKutters Thank you, sir.
Just ordered one. :) Can't wait
+KordKutters Only a C2D? C2D isn't really the best at running Kodi.
+KordKutters Can we easily copy modified config files to the userdata folder of Kodi on the Nvidia Shield?
Ha ha here is the counsel here is a banana I like that ;)
I love the original Xbox lol!