Is Shield TV really that amazing? Is NVIDIA obsessed with streaming?

Android game consoles have been around for a while, but they have not produced any games that can compete with traditional game consoles, which has always put them at a disadvantage. Now, they are not only facing competition from traditional consoles such as PS4 and Xbox, but also from emerging steam OS consoles.

NVIDIA Shield TV, as a console running the Android system, has been on sale since May this year (there is no Chinese version yet). It is mainly used for gaming and is equipped with the latest Tegra X1 core, which has very strong performance. NVIDIA also has its own unique insights on game processing, so how can this console perform in this fierce competition?

Shield's exclusive body

The square body is mainly black, supplemented by gray and green power LED lights. It is full of NVIDIA style. The NVIDIA logo is printed on the upper right side of the body.

The multiple interfaces on the back of the body are: 1 TF card interface, 1 micro USB interface, 2 USB3.0 interfaces, 1 network cable interface, 1 HDMI interface and 1 power interface.

Its body length is about 1.5 times that of Amazon Fire TV and its body thickness is 1/2.

Just a gaming console?

As the name suggests, Shield TV is not only a game console, but also an Android TV box. There are many Android TV boxes, and their main function is to watch TV and movies, etc., and they can also be used to play games on the Android platform.

Shield TV, which uses Google Play, is not inferior to other TV boxes in terms of video services. The support for YouTube further expands the scope of services. TV and movies on Google Play plus YouTube's original videos allow users to get the best experience. And the actual picture of the video is still very good in terms of its video resolution.

In addition to videos, Google Play also provides more applications and games. In terms of game processing, the excellent performance of Tegra X1 makes the game screen processing more perfect. Even large Android games that many TV boxes are daunting can run perfectly and smoothly. The actual running of the 3GB "War Thunder" is very smooth without any lag. In addition to the applications on Google Play, it also supports third-party applications installed via USB.

Streaming makes gaming more engaging

Since the release of Shield TV, NVIDIA GRID cloud streaming service has become the focus of many players. It is the streaming service that makes the games on Shield TV more powerful. The games are remotely transmitted to the player's TV screen in the form of video streams through the network.

NVIDIA's servers store many large-scale PC games. With the help of its powerful hardware capabilities, some games that are difficult to run on PC can run perfectly. What players see is only the video data transmitted from the server to the TV, which meets the players' needs for those large-scale PC games.

GRID Cloud has prepared many games for players, such as "FEAR3", "Dishonored 2", "BlazBlue" and many other games. Players only need to select to start the game, and using the handle to operate the game is suitable for many players. However, since streaming games do not have domestic servers and have high requirements for network speed, whether the game is smooth depends on whether the network speed meets the standard. Practical game testing shows that the game screen is still well guaranteed, and the game is very well adapted to the handle. However, due to network reasons, there is still a phenomenon of lag in domestic application streaming.

Android game streaming feasibility

Games have always indirectly stimulated the improvement of hardware configuration. Many players spend a lot of money to buy the necessary hardware for games, which makes traditional game consoles have their own place. However, due to the low hardware configuration of the Android game platform, many games are not suitable for it.

Shield TV uses GRID cloud streaming to change this dilemma, allowing more games to no longer require higher hardware configurations. Because the hardware configuration of the server is much higher than that of personal devices, it is very easy to run a game that is not easy to run on other devices on the server side. Then it is transmitted to the player's display device in the form of a video stream, making many games that require higher configurations more popular.

Why don't other Android devices adopt such a simple way to add more high-quality games? This technology has high requirements for the server. Although the server configuration is higher than that of ordinary personal devices, it is also a challenge to the server's carrying capacity. In order to ensure the carrying capacity and stability of the server, more funds must be spent to improve the configuration, perform maintenance and build more base stations, which is still very costly for general manufacturers.

Another thing is that this method has very high requirements for the network. Shield TV supports 4K video output, but whether the network as a video streaming medium can complete this task is still uncertain. Many people know that 1080P video streaming requires 10M stable bandwidth during transmission, and 4K will require even higher. However, the per capita bandwidth in China has not yet reached the number of 1080P, which makes this method more difficult to implement.

Is NVIDIA obsessed with streaming?

NVIDIA has used streaming to put PC games on its devices since its first device. Using streaming on the mobile device Shield handheld allows you to carry games with you and play them anytime, anywhere. But what is the point of streaming on Shield TV? Since it is a PC game, you can also use the TV to experience the game by connecting a sufficiently configured console to a TV, and you don’t have to worry about the network speed.

Even if the console configuration is insufficient, why do we just use Shield TV for streaming? Besides, the application of streaming has nothing to do with the Tegra X1 chip that NVIDIA has installed on Shield TV. NVIDIA launched the Shield TV console to highlight the power of its processing chip. Instead, the performance advantage of its chip is overshadowed by its streaming, which completely reverses the purpose. This is not NVIDIA's style. The service overshadows its hardware functions, so that more people will not pay attention to the advantages of its real Terga X1, which directly affects the application of its chips in other products.

Regardless of whether streaming will make Shield TV truly successful, as a console, it is still very attractive to many Chinese gamers. Whether Shield TV will be available in China has always been the focus of gamers. Last month, NVIDIA China General Manager Zhang Jianzhong's Weibo revealed that NVIDIA is planning to launch a Chinese version. It is also possible that this machine is currently under review, and perhaps Shield TV has already been available to you before you know it.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.