Pricey

I have to chime in here. Before almost exactly 4 years i bought two shield tvs in a bundle with the remote and the controller for 161 Euros each. 4 Years later nVidia releases the "Shield TV Pro" with the same look, less ports (the original has one micro USB 2.0), same storage, same RAM, shrinked SOC die with same physical specs (4xA57 + Maxwell 256 core GPU), but slightly higher frequencies, no controller in the box, with the claim of AI upscaling for 199$/Euros and everyone is hyped. Secondly they release a "normal" Shield TV that gets reduced specs: 8GB storage, 2GB RAM, no USB ports, but AI upscaling. Again everyone is psyched. Whilst they have at least two new SOCs (TX2, AGX) shipping and Orin soon to be ready and neither is being used in the Shield devices. I must say im really disappointed. I was hoping to get one of these as an upgrade, but this is at most an expensive sidegrade... Edit> The price is 219 Euros here in Germany!

ruthan:

Lets hope that this time power adapter would be better, i returned Shiled because mine was buzzing and nvidia wasnt able to replace it..

I imagine it should be pretty easy to find a replacement power adapter for cheap. Of course, you shouldn't have to provide your own adapter on a brand new device.

Aura89:

I do find it weird that roku doesn't have dolby vision in them yet, since 4K Roku TV does. Maybe the 8th generation that was just announced does, i can't find any specifications on it really.

In my experience with Rokus, certain features are limited to certain versions. Although they do a good job at maintaining older devices, they're pretty lazy when it comes to forward compatibility.

Not worth it IMO. Especially if you have the 2017 model and you dont need the AI upscaling. If your TV is one of the premium and newer model, your TV will already do a very good job on the upscaling and preproccessing part. I really don't know what it is about that tubular design, feels like there is no place to put it anywhere without cables sticking out on the sides or without it rolling away from the TV stand/table/bench etc. Still we need to see how the performance is vs the 2017 model, I have my doubts...

I hope they bring the upscaling feature to the old shields aswell!

jststojc:

I have to chime in here. Before almost exactly 4 years i bought two shield tvs in a bundle with the remote and the controller for 161 Euros each. 4 Years later nVidia releases the "Shield TV Pro" with the same look, less ports (the original has one micro USB 2.0), same storage, same RAM, shrinked SOC die with same physical specs (4xA57 + Maxwell 256 core GPU), but slightly higher frequencies, no controller in the box, with the claim of AI upscaling for 199$/Euros and everyone is hyped. Secondly they release a "normal" Shield TV that gets reduced specs: 8GB storage, 2GB RAM, no USB ports, but AI upscaling. Again everyone is psyched. Whilst they have at least two new SOCs (TX2, AGX) shipping and Orin soon to be ready and neither is being used in the Shield devices. I must say im really disappointed. I was hoping to get one of these as an upgrade, but this is at most an expensive sidegrade... Edit> The price is 219 Euros here in Germany!

Yeah, I didn't approve of the port downgrade over the years. Seemed like a cost-cutting measure at the customer's expense. I am excited for the AI upscaling and Dolby Vision support, though. They added AI upscaling on the 8 and 9-series LG OLEDs, but I have the 7-series. Would be nice to get that feature without upgrading the TV. 😉

EngEd:

Not worth it IMO. Especially if you have the 2017 model and you dont need the AI upscaling. If your TV is one of the premium and newer model, your TV will already do a very good job on the upscaling and preproccessing part.

True, but you have to manually switch the resolution setting on the Shield back and forth between 1080p and 4k, depending on the content you're watching. If you leave the Shield output at 4k, it will do the upscaling before your TV ever gets to touch it (and to honest, the current Shield isn't very good at it). I can tell you from personal experience, changing this setting gets old really fast.

Dragam1337:

I hope they bring the upscaling feature to the old shields aswell!

Would be nice! It would save me some money. I doubt it will happen, though. 🙁

Is there a video card with ALL UPSCALING ? I really like the sharpening of the image