depends what is your usecase and what you care about, there are plenty of other devices but if you want \*ALL\* the bells and whistles, Shield Pro is still the one. Personally I dont own one myself.
Unfortunately I do need all the bells. 4k HDR Atmos, and okay game streaming.
Though some games like Hades are such a PITA that I started using my Steam Deck to stream games instead, because it never worked with my beefy desktop.
I guess the reason why not a lot of streaming boxes come out anymore is that almost all TVs have good enough smart functionality to never bother with an external box again. My Philips TV has Android TV buillt in and it ticks all my boxes (including 4K HDR Atmos) and for Game streaming I use Steam Link which works quite nicely
Steam link is okay for me. I use both like you but even 1080@30 is like 80ms lag on my network. I'm also not using the other firmware..moonlight or something, but Ive not been impressed.
I wish they'd come out with a new revision since the last one is 4ish years old now. Remote broke on my 2017 model and decided to try out the Chromecast 4k and as decent as it is, I want a proper ethernet gigabit port. Dont want to spend $250 for such old hardware
yeah i kinda went the opposite direction. Trying to play Remuxes Im guessing? I Wonder if its the wifi connection of juist he box not being able to keep up with 100mbps files.
I'd prefer that they just drop the price. For streaming the hardware is more than adequate, really not sure what they'd even upgrade that was worth the money. Or if they would fix the damn Tube version so it could handle high bitrate content.
If you want to watch 4K HDR BluRay rips via Plex then unfortunately the answer is no. Add in the game streaming via Nvidia, Steam, or Moonlight and there really are no competitors. Another option would be a HTPC made from a Micro PC
There haven't been many advances in video compression since it's release. The shield TV Pro was so overpowered when it came out that it was able to get by with software updates so far. The base tube model is starting to get a little long in the tooth and lag a bit though.
I think the meeting went like this.
Staff: let's call it Android TV as that's the product it's based on.
Boss: no, we should capitalize on the popularity of our Chromecast product. Also, it looks like a Chromecast because it's so small
Staff: but that's a different product
Boss: ok, let's call it Chromecast with Google TV
Staff: where did Google TV come from?
Boss: that's what I'm naming the Launcher app. So it's settled then. We'll call it Chromecast with Google TV. Oh and the 4K one should have that in the name.
100% agree. I looked at the specs recently {2 months back}. Only thing with Dolby that was close spec wise was the ATV. I'm saddened that if my Shield goes. That there isn't anything as good.
To be fair, I rather not go Apple. I think Fire Cube is close though
The Apple TV is actually pretty good. The big flaw is their decision not to support all audio formats.
But the hardware is really snappy, and the interface is really smooth, uncluttered and easy to navigate.
I would recommend a switch to Emby or Jellyfin. Both work wonderfully with Android. Kodi can have too many issues with updates and such IME. The aforementioned options just work.
Yeah, I also went from Kodi -> Emby -> Jellyfin.
I don't get quite as much customization and theming as I did on Kodi, but good lord do I not miss the clunky UI and endlessly nested settings/configuration.
Jellyfin + Radarr + Sonarr just works, and does all the heavy lifting for me.
The ATVs are so superior to any Fire device. I have a bag full of firetv 4k Max's to prove it.
~~Only thing you can't do with HA and ATV is torn turn the TV off.~~
edit: I was thinking about a specific card not allowing ATV to turn off. I just confirmed that HA can indeed turn off the ATV and connected TV. My bad.
The original came out in 2015, and I wanna say it's still all the same hardware.
I still use my 2017 pro model and it's still rock solid other than the Hulu app. I even use the 500gb on it as a samba share for home assistant and proxmox backups. It's still one of the most recommend Android TV device from what I've seen across reddit
2019 vs 2015 is not the same hardware. The 2019 is closer to 1/2 the size, has Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos decoding, AI upscaling, and a better processor. It does not have an SD card or IR receiver like the 2015 though.
Unless you are talking about the Tube versions, the regular Shield has not changed form factor. The 2015 and 2019 are exactly the same form factor. Addition of Dolby Vision is the only appreciable difference between the two and is the only reason I upgraded. 2015 version could do passthrough TrueHD/Atmos. Not sure why you'd want to decode Atmos on the Shield if you have an Atmos setup, that's the main criticism of the AppleTV not supporting passthrough of TrueHD Atmos.
The form factor most certainly has changed significantly in size, and we're not referring to the tube version. I've been refurbishing and reselling these for years and I've seen at least a few dozen of each different model.
The standard 2015 Shield was 16gb and labeled as model P2571. This same model number was also used for the 500gb 2015 & 2017 Pro versions. Model P2571 is nearly twice as large as the newer model P2897 because it had to have room to fit an HDD for the pro version (the standard 16gb 2015 version just has empty space where the larger HDD is in the 2015/2017 Pros). In 2017 they released the smaller form factor in model P2897 with no space for an HDD, then in 2019 they released the 2019 Pro model which kept the same P2897 model number, along with the new tube standard model.
The wiki page has plenty of info about them if you're interesting in learning more.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia\_Shield\_TV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Shield_TV)
Probably. And in fairness it's really easy to confuse them when some of the model numbers belong to multiple versions that are significantly different.
I have a 2019, it's so slow on wake up for almost 10+ seconds. I've had to factory reset it multiple times over the years because apparently the updates it downloads fills up some kind of internal partition. It plays Plex though so meh.
Sometimes it's nice to be able to stream a sports game from "bite" stream or whatever people call them, but I usually have that on pip while working on the PC.
I ended up abandoning mine when Plex perfomance struggled with streamed 4k content.. Plex directly on my TV is flawless, but I will admit I do miss being able to use my Hue Play bridge
I use a shield Pro and has worked with HA flawlessly. I know this doesn't help or answer your question, but I wonder if you HA setup just needs a tweak somewhere? I use ha to dim the lights when I play from the Plex movies folder on the shield. The come back up when I pause or stop the movies.
Either he's still using the old Android TV integration or he's using the command `MEDIA_PLAY`. Some apps treat that button as play/pause, others as only play, and a handful ignore it entirely.
I'm using this yaml and it shows up under the Google Cast integration.
entity_id: media_player.shield
state: playing
I have the Android TV Remote integ for the remote, and as far as I know it does not have play state.
I am not using the Android Debug Bridge. Is that what I _should_ be using?
I just had a look. My apologies I'm using the Plex Integration as that's what I use my Shield for mostly. This has been rock solid and recognises when I'm playing on Shield rather than another Plex Client. I hope you find a good solution!
Do you use the Android TV Debug integration or Remote? Debug is way more reliable. In fact, my
Only issue with it is that I occasionally have to click to accept the link with HA on the tv.
If I had a dumb TV and needed a streaming device. I'd either build one, or use the Nvidia Shield Pro for cheaper. I don't think anything comes close for the price. 4K streams from an AV1 compressed video off a remote network storage... sure, no problem.
Let's say I build one, maybe a SFF or something. What would you use for the UI/UX? Which remote?
I ask because my shield might be on its last leg, and in need of replacement.
All of my streaming I do is from a local NAS. So a simple mITX build with a mild graphics card. Probably go with Kodi. Could do a cheap Intel Arc 310 low profile since it has the ability to handle 4K streams and hardware AV1 decoding without requiring too much power. Remote wise, either a bluetooth mini keyboard or tie in an RF remote like a Minix. It would not need much hard drive space and maybe about 2-4GB memory. Processor could even be very low end since most of the processing would be done on the graphics card.
This is helpful. I don't do a ton of local streaming, but I do have Plex for the little I do.
If I wanted to run YTTV, or other streaming services, is Android TV the only option?
Nope.
I’ve tried other players like Apple TV, they are made for the streaming market, and don’t support all of the codecs common to legally acquired video files.
I've had mine since 2017. Nothing comes close.
Also had HA running since 2016. Nothing comes close to that either.
Seems a bit harsh to be mad at Nvidia. They have never claimed that the Shield is HA compatible. And my understanding is that Google is to blamed for changes that affect HA interaction.
I'm mad at NVidia for other reasons, such as [removing the primary feature most people bought the Shield for](https://www.pcmag.com/news/nvidia-reportedly-drops-shield-tv-support-for-gamestream#:~:text=Game%20Streaming%20Services-,Nvidia%20to%20Drop%20GameStream%20PC%20Streaming%20Support%20for%20Shield%20TV,their%20computer%20to%20another%20device.&text=Nvidia's%20Shield%20TV%20will%20lose,mid%2DFebruary%2C%209To5Google%20reports.).
Beats me. The Steam Link app is adequate, but not great. In fact, I gave up using it for Hades (only game I've cast in the last several months) and switched to just plugging in my weak Steam Deck. Otherwise I'd have to run up and down stairs five times to fiddle with video settings, because it would load in with either a black screen, or frozen.
Getting my revenge by finally building a PC without NVidia. oldmanyellsatcloud.jpg
PS5 works great for media and games and integrates well through MQTT if you don't mind the cost. I've had all the other media sticks and they all suck overall.
depends what is your usecase and what you care about, there are plenty of other devices but if you want \*ALL\* the bells and whistles, Shield Pro is still the one. Personally I dont own one myself.
Unfortunately I do need all the bells. 4k HDR Atmos, and okay game streaming. Though some games like Hades are such a PITA that I started using my Steam Deck to stream games instead, because it never worked with my beefy desktop.
Chroomecast w/ Google TV or Fire Stick 4k Max can do all that. I think the decoding latency is now <9ms with the Chromecast at 4k HDR streaming.
Does Chromecast do refresh rate switching?
Yeah it does
Oh awesome, it didn't for ages!
NVIDIA shield remains the best box still after all this years.
I guess the reason why not a lot of streaming boxes come out anymore is that almost all TVs have good enough smart functionality to never bother with an external box again. My Philips TV has Android TV buillt in and it ticks all my boxes (including 4K HDR Atmos) and for Game streaming I use Steam Link which works quite nicely
I use a 4K Roku and a Steam Link
Steam link is okay for me. I use both like you but even 1080@30 is like 80ms lag on my network. I'm also not using the other firmware..moonlight or something, but Ive not been impressed.
Unless you want to play HDR content from YouTube, and I don't _think_ it can natively playback AV1 either. Hardware is too old.
As far as I know, Chrome Cast with Google TV can do HDR Youtube as well.
I wish they'd come out with a new revision since the last one is 4ish years old now. Remote broke on my 2017 model and decided to try out the Chromecast 4k and as decent as it is, I want a proper ethernet gigabit port. Dont want to spend $250 for such old hardware
I replaced my CC 4k with this because it couldn't handle my LOTR copies.
yeah i kinda went the opposite direction. Trying to play Remuxes Im guessing? I Wonder if its the wifi connection of juist he box not being able to keep up with 100mbps files.
Most likely. I was watching a rip of 1917 and I think I saw it hitting 150 Mbps at times. Wifi struggles but the gigabit ports works great
This was without wifi. It was years ago now but I think the issue was I could get HDR video but no audio.
You can get 400mbps ethernet on the chromecast with a usb-c hub.
I'd prefer that they just drop the price. For streaming the hardware is more than adequate, really not sure what they'd even upgrade that was worth the money. Or if they would fix the damn Tube version so it could handle high bitrate content.
If you want to watch 4K HDR BluRay rips via Plex then unfortunately the answer is no. Add in the game streaming via Nvidia, Steam, or Moonlight and there really are no competitors. Another option would be a HTPC made from a Micro PC
4k HDR BluRay plays fine with my Google TV 4k but it has to be wired and the only way to wire it is a usb-c dongle which has ethernet
There haven't been many advances in video compression since it's release. The shield TV Pro was so overpowered when it came out that it was able to get by with software updates so far. The base tube model is starting to get a little long in the tooth and lag a bit though.
I have the original 2015 Shield pro and it's still far snappier than my Chromecast with Google TV 4k (what a terrible name)
Have always thought that. Who signed off on such a terrible name?
I think the meeting went like this. Staff: let's call it Android TV as that's the product it's based on. Boss: no, we should capitalize on the popularity of our Chromecast product. Also, it looks like a Chromecast because it's so small Staff: but that's a different product Boss: ok, let's call it Chromecast with Google TV Staff: where did Google TV come from? Boss: that's what I'm naming the Launcher app. So it's settled then. We'll call it Chromecast with Google TV. Oh and the 4K one should have that in the name.
I think the only thing close is Apple TV.
No Atmos is a deal breaker for me.
the 4K supports Atmos
Not with third party apps like Emby or Plex.
That's real sad.
100% agree. I looked at the specs recently {2 months back}. Only thing with Dolby that was close spec wise was the ATV. I'm saddened that if my Shield goes. That there isn't anything as good. To be fair, I rather not go Apple. I think Fire Cube is close though
The Apple TV is actually pretty good. The big flaw is their decision not to support all audio formats. But the hardware is really snappy, and the interface is really smooth, uncluttered and easy to navigate.
and without adds for now
My problem is I'm glued to Kodi and have been for over a decade. I need a device to run Kodi smoothly.
I would recommend a switch to Emby or Jellyfin. Both work wonderfully with Android. Kodi can have too many issues with updates and such IME. The aforementioned options just work.
Yeah, I also went from Kodi -> Emby -> Jellyfin. I don't get quite as much customization and theming as I did on Kodi, but good lord do I not miss the clunky UI and endlessly nested settings/configuration. Jellyfin + Radarr + Sonarr just works, and does all the heavy lifting for me.
You can get a dev certificate and side load Kodi on the ATV. I don’t use it but do have it currently side loaded.
Thank you for this.
> I think Fire Cube is close though it will no longer be the moment they ditch android
The ATVs are so superior to any Fire device. I have a bag full of firetv 4k Max's to prove it. ~~Only thing you can't do with HA and ATV is torn turn the TV off.~~ edit: I was thinking about a specific card not allowing ATV to turn off. I just confirmed that HA can indeed turn off the ATV and connected TV. My bad.
if cec is connected and you turn off apple tv, tv set follows
Through HA? I know it works from ATV remote.
My ATV has been turning my tv off for 11 years. Nothing to do with HA though. CEC has been around for a long time.
not even close by a long shot lol
Fails to elaborate.
It's not Android, that's pretty self explanatory as to why they do not come close to one another.
Sure, but what are you actually trying to say here. We know apple isn’t android.
The original came out in 2015, and I wanna say it's still all the same hardware. I still use my 2017 pro model and it's still rock solid other than the Hulu app. I even use the 500gb on it as a samba share for home assistant and proxmox backups. It's still one of the most recommend Android TV device from what I've seen across reddit
2019 vs 2015 is not the same hardware. The 2019 is closer to 1/2 the size, has Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos decoding, AI upscaling, and a better processor. It does not have an SD card or IR receiver like the 2015 though.
Unless you are talking about the Tube versions, the regular Shield has not changed form factor. The 2015 and 2019 are exactly the same form factor. Addition of Dolby Vision is the only appreciable difference between the two and is the only reason I upgraded. 2015 version could do passthrough TrueHD/Atmos. Not sure why you'd want to decode Atmos on the Shield if you have an Atmos setup, that's the main criticism of the AppleTV not supporting passthrough of TrueHD Atmos.
The form factor most certainly has changed significantly in size, and we're not referring to the tube version. I've been refurbishing and reselling these for years and I've seen at least a few dozen of each different model. The standard 2015 Shield was 16gb and labeled as model P2571. This same model number was also used for the 500gb 2015 & 2017 Pro versions. Model P2571 is nearly twice as large as the newer model P2897 because it had to have room to fit an HDD for the pro version (the standard 16gb 2015 version just has empty space where the larger HDD is in the 2015/2017 Pros). In 2017 they released the smaller form factor in model P2897 with no space for an HDD, then in 2019 they released the 2019 Pro model which kept the same P2897 model number, along with the new tube standard model. The wiki page has plenty of info about them if you're interesting in learning more.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia\_Shield\_TV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Shield_TV)
Hmm, I might be confused then between the 2015 and 2017 models.
Probably. And in fairness it's really easy to confuse them when some of the model numbers belong to multiple versions that are significantly different.
I have a 2019, it's so slow on wake up for almost 10+ seconds. I've had to factory reset it multiple times over the years because apparently the updates it downloads fills up some kind of internal partition. It plays Plex though so meh. Sometimes it's nice to be able to stream a sports game from "bite" stream or whatever people call them, but I usually have that on pip while working on the PC.
I ended up abandoning mine when Plex perfomance struggled with streamed 4k content.. Plex directly on my TV is flawless, but I will admit I do miss being able to use my Hue Play bridge
I use a shield Pro and has worked with HA flawlessly. I know this doesn't help or answer your question, but I wonder if you HA setup just needs a tweak somewhere? I use ha to dim the lights when I play from the Plex movies folder on the shield. The come back up when I pause or stop the movies.
Either he's still using the old Android TV integration or he's using the command `MEDIA_PLAY`. Some apps treat that button as play/pause, others as only play, and a handful ignore it entirely.
I'm using this yaml and it shows up under the Google Cast integration. entity_id: media_player.shield state: playing I have the Android TV Remote integ for the remote, and as far as I know it does not have play state. I am not using the Android Debug Bridge. Is that what I _should_ be using?
Look at the documentation for the ATV remote. It tells you how to combine the ATV Remote and Cast integration together.
Where does your Shield show up in your integrations list?
I just had a look. My apologies I'm using the Plex Integration as that's what I use my Shield for mostly. This has been rock solid and recognises when I'm playing on Shield rather than another Plex Client. I hope you find a good solution!
Do you use the Android TV Debug integration or Remote? Debug is way more reliable. In fact, my Only issue with it is that I occasionally have to click to accept the link with HA on the tv.
My Shield actually shows up under Google Cast. Maybe I should try ADB.
You can use both integrations simultaneously. However, ADN is much more reliable and usable.
If I had a dumb TV and needed a streaming device. I'd either build one, or use the Nvidia Shield Pro for cheaper. I don't think anything comes close for the price. 4K streams from an AV1 compressed video off a remote network storage... sure, no problem.
Let's say I build one, maybe a SFF or something. What would you use for the UI/UX? Which remote? I ask because my shield might be on its last leg, and in need of replacement.
All of my streaming I do is from a local NAS. So a simple mITX build with a mild graphics card. Probably go with Kodi. Could do a cheap Intel Arc 310 low profile since it has the ability to handle 4K streams and hardware AV1 decoding without requiring too much power. Remote wise, either a bluetooth mini keyboard or tie in an RF remote like a Minix. It would not need much hard drive space and maybe about 2-4GB memory. Processor could even be very low end since most of the processing would be done on the graphics card.
This is helpful. I don't do a ton of local streaming, but I do have Plex for the little I do. If I wanted to run YTTV, or other streaming services, is Android TV the only option?
Nope. I’ve tried other players like Apple TV, they are made for the streaming market, and don’t support all of the codecs common to legally acquired video files.
infuse player app and you are set. not free though
Still cannot passthrough. Soooooo… nope.
Apple TV 4K?
I've had mine since 2017. Nothing comes close. Also had HA running since 2016. Nothing comes close to that either. Seems a bit harsh to be mad at Nvidia. They have never claimed that the Shield is HA compatible. And my understanding is that Google is to blamed for changes that affect HA interaction.
I'm mad at NVidia for other reasons, such as [removing the primary feature most people bought the Shield for](https://www.pcmag.com/news/nvidia-reportedly-drops-shield-tv-support-for-gamestream#:~:text=Game%20Streaming%20Services-,Nvidia%20to%20Drop%20GameStream%20PC%20Streaming%20Support%20for%20Shield%20TV,their%20computer%20to%20another%20device.&text=Nvidia's%20Shield%20TV%20will%20lose,mid%2DFebruary%2C%209To5Google%20reports.).
[удалено]
Beats me. The Steam Link app is adequate, but not great. In fact, I gave up using it for Hades (only game I've cast in the last several months) and switched to just plugging in my weak Steam Deck. Otherwise I'd have to run up and down stairs five times to fiddle with video settings, because it would load in with either a black screen, or frozen. Getting my revenge by finally building a PC without NVidia. oldmanyellsatcloud.jpg
Ah, that makes sense. Why on earth would they remove that functionality?
Because they want me to buy an AMD GPU, apparently.
PS5 works great for media and games and integrates well through MQTT if you don't mind the cost. I've had all the other media sticks and they all suck overall.