SHIELD TV FAQ (US and North America)

SHIELD TV And SHIELD TV Pro FAQs (US and North America)

WHAT SHIELD TV PRODUCTS ARE AVAILABLE TODAY?

- SHIELD TV (2019)

- SHIELD TV Pro (2019)

WHERE CAN I BUY SHIELD TV IN THE US?

You can order directly from NVIDIA.com or from our retail partners. Visit the Shop page on our website for a full list of partners.

IN WHAT REGIONS IS SHIELD TV AVAILABLE?

The SHIELD TV and SHIELD TV Pro are available in the following countries:

North America

- USA

- Canada

Europe

- UK

- Germany

- France

- Italy

- Spain

- Austria

- Norway

- Netherlands

- Sweden

- Denmark

- Russia

- Poland

- Czech Republic

WHAT APPS ARE AVAILABLE ON SHIELD TV?

SHIELD TV includes the Android TV operating system, including the Google Play store, which provides access to thousands of apps and games. SHIELD TV comes preloaded with Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video, Plex, Google Play Movies, Google Play Music, and the NVIDIA Games app preinstalled. Some regions include additional preinstalled apps such as BBC and ITV in the UK, Vudu and Amazon Music in US, and Stan in Australia.

Download additional apps and games from the Google Play store on SHIELD TV.

WHERE IS THE BEST PLACE TO PUT MY SHIELD TV?

The new SHIELD TV is designed to disappear behind your entertainment center. It can rest comfortably on the floor, out of site, along with your other cables. One end has a cable that plugs into a power outlet and the other end has a cable that plugs into your HDMI port on your TV.

SHIELD TV Pro is designed to be displayed on your TV stand next to your TV.

HOW DO I UPDATE SHIELD TV?

All software updates are directly pushed to your SHIELD TV by NVIDIA. You'll see a notification on your home screen when an update is available. If you want SHIELD to stay up to date automatically without notifications, you can enable Auto-upgrade. Go to Settings > Device Preferences > About > System upgrade and enable ‘Auto-upgrade’. You can even select the time of day you would like the updates to occur.

WHAT ACCESSORIES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SHIELD TV?

There are two accessories available for SHIELD TV; the SHIELD TV remote and the SHIELD TV controller. All SHIELD TVs come with one SHIELD remote in the box. All additional accessories are available for purchase on our website.

WHAT ACCESSORIES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SHIELD TV Pro?

There are three accessories available for SHIELD TV; the SHIELD TV remote, the SHIELD TV controller, and the SHIELD TV vertical stand.All SHIELD TVs come with one SHIELD remote in the box. All additional accessories are available for purchase on our website.

WHAT DO I NEED TO SET UP SHIELD TV?

You just need a TV that supports HDMI, an Internet connection (either Ethernet or Wi-Fi), and an HDMI cable. For 4K or HDR TVs, you will need an HDMI 2.0 compatible cable.

WILL SHIELD WORK WITH MY TV?

SHIELD works with virtually any TV or display that supports HDMI. SHIELD TV can be plugged directly into your TV or receiver, depending on your preference.

Note: To output 4K Ultra HD, HDR, or Dolby Vision content, your display must be capable of those features. If you are connecting your SHIELD TV to your 4K HDR TV through an AV receiver or sound bar, the AV receiver or soundbar must support HDMI 2.0 (with HDCP 2.2).

I HAVE A DOLBY VISION TV, BUT I’M NOT SEEING DOLBY VISION CAPABLE DISPLAY MODES

If you are connecting SHIELD directly to a receiver or sound bar, make sure your device supports Dolby Vision (12-bit YUV).

SHIELD CANNOT SWITCH TO THE DOLBY VISION COMPATIBLE MODE /

DOLBY VISION CONTENT IS NOT SHOWING PROPERLY

You may need to upgrade your HDMI cables if you are experiencing issues with Dolby Vision. Look for certified High Speed HDMI cables or Dolby Vision Certified cables. Examples are the Belkin Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable (Dolby Vision certified) or the Monoprice High Speed HDMI cables.

HOW DO I TURN ON SHIELD TV? DOES IT HAVE A POWER BUTTON?

There is no power button on your SHIELD TV. SHIELD TV will turn on as soon as it is connected to a power supply using the included power cord. Use the power button on the remote to put SHIELD to sleep. SHIELD will also automatically sleep to save power.

CAN I CONNECT OTHER CONTROLLERS TO SHIELD?

Yes. Generic bluetooth controllers should pair with SHIELD. PS4 and XBOX One controllers with Bluetooth will also pair with SHIELD as Bluetooth devices.

CAN THE SHIELD CONTROLLER CONNECT AS A BLUETOOTH CONTROLLER TO OTHER ANDROID DEVICES OR TO GAMING PCS?

Yes. You can connect the SHIELD Controller as a Bluetooth game controller to other Android devices.

WHAT APPS SUPPORT 4K, HDR, DOLBY VISION, AND DOLBY ATMOS CONTENT?

4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos content availability is controlled by app providers and is subject to change at any time. Our current list of support for top apps is as follows*:

- Netflix (4K, HDR10, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos)

- Prime Video (4K, HDR10, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos)

- Google Play Movies & TV (4K, Dolby Vision)

- VUDU (4K, HDR10, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos),

- Disney+ (4K, HDR10, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos)

- YouTube (4K)

For each of these apps, make sure your subscription account supports 4K streaming. For Netflix, this requires the premium account. 4K HDR gaming is also available now with NVIDIA GameStream.

WHAT IS AI-ENHANCED UPSCALING?

Using the power from the latest NVIDIA Tegra X1+ processor, AI-enhanced upscaling will upscale HD video (720p/1080p) to 4K using the power of AI. For most HD video content on top apps like Netflix and Prime Video, users can expect to see crisper, clearer, video than what is achieved with basic upscaling.

HOW DO I TURN ON AI-ENHANCED UPSCALING?

Go to Settings -> AI upscaling and select “AI-Enhanced”.

HOW CAN I SEE WHAT AI UPSCALING CAN DO ON SHIELD?

Under the “AI-Upscaling” menu you will find a “Demo Mode” switch. When enabled, you will be able to compare your current “AI-Upscaling” setting to “Basic” upscaling image quality. “Basic” upscaling is a common upscaling method used by previous SHIELD TV devices and many popular streaming devices available today.

- Press the “Settings” button on your SHIELD remote to toggle between Basic and AI-Upscaling

- Hold “Settings” button to compare “Basic” and “AI-Upscaling” side by side

WHAT CONTENT CAN I UPSCALE USING AI?

The AI-Upscaler will work on content that is:

• Resolution: Greater than 480p but less than 4K
• Refresh rate: 30Hz refresh rate or less
• Color space: YUV color space
• Video content (Non-gaming content)

As reference, most non-4K content on Netflix and Prime Video work with AI-upscaling.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN AI-UPSCALING IS NOT-AVAILABLE

In most cases, SHIELD will fall back to Enhanced upscaling. This is an enhanced quality version of the upscaler compared to the previous generation upscaling.

WHY DOES MY TV OR RECEIVER TURN ON/OFF WHEN I TURN ON/OFF SHIELD TV?

SHIELD TV is configured by default to send CEC events to wake or sleep your TV and receiver. You can enable or disable these features by going to Settings -> Device preferences -> Display & Sound -> Power Control.

WHAT ARE ALL OF THE EXPANDABLE STORAGE OPTIONS?

• SHIELD TV supports microSD cards - UHS Class 1 or faster.
• SHIELD TV Pro supports external USB flash drives and hard drives. To maximize speed and performance, NVIDIA recommends USB 3.0 flash drives.

To expand your internal storage for apps and games, your USB or MicroSD drive will need to be set up as internal storage. Go to Settings -> Device preferences -> Storage -> Select the drive name, then select the "Set up as internal storage".

If you have a Network Addressable Storage (NAS) you can connect your SHIELD TV over the network to access your shared content.

HOW CAN I CONTROL THE TV OR RECEIVER VOLUME WITH MY SHIELD REMOTE?

You can configure the SHIELD remote to send HDMI-CEC or IR volume commands to control your AV receiver or TV. Go to Settings -> Device preferences -> Display & Sound -> Volume Control.

WHY DOES MY SHIELD OCCASIONALLY SLEEP FOR NO REASON?

Some TVs may accidently send an input switch command over HDMI-CEC, causing your SHIELD to sleep and turn off the TV. You can disable this feature on SHIELD by disabling Settings -> Device preferences -> Display & Sound -> Power control -> Sleep SHIELD when TV input changes.

DOES SHIELD SUPPORT UNIVERSAL REMOTES?

Newer models of the Logitech Harmony remotes that use the Harmony Hub can control SHIELD TV via Bluetooth. SHIELD also supports generic Bluetooth remote controls.

HOW DO I CONNECT MY PC TO SHIELD?

You can connect your PC to SHIELD over your local network. Check out this article for more information on accessing folders on SHIELD over local network.

On SHIELD Pro, you can enable the USB port furthest from the HDMI port to connect to a PC using a USB type-A to USB Type-A cable. Enable this feature in Settings > Device Preferences > Storage. Select "Using USB" under "SHIELD Storage access". Note that when this feature is enabled, you can no longer use the port for other needs.

CAN I ADJUST THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE GREEN LED ON SHIELD TV Pro?

Yes, go to Settings -> Device Preference -> System -> LED brightness

HOW DO I CHECK THE BATTERY LEVEL OF MY SHIELD REMOTE OR SHIELD CONTROLLER?

The battery level is shown under the "SHIELD accessories" setting.

HOW DO I ACCESS NVIDIA SHARE?

NVIDIA Share (for game capture and broadcast) is available on SHIELD TV Pro. Go to Settings > Device Preferences > System > NVIDIA Share to enable.

HOW DO I LOCATE MY LOST REMOTE?

The new SHIELD remote comes with a built-in lost remote locator.

Using the SHIELD TV mobile app:

1. Install the SHIELD TV app for your iOS or Android phone. Pair the app with your SHIELD TV
   1. On the app, locate your SHIELD (your mobile device must be connected to the same network as your SHIELD)
   2. Complete pairing by entering the 6 digit number displayed on your TV
2. In the mobile app, under settings (3 dots in the upper left hand side) tap “Find my remote”

SHIELD TV remote locator button:

SHIELD TV also has a remote locator button (next to the HDMI port). Your SHIELD must be powered on for this feature to work.

Using Google Home or Amazon Echo:

You can use your Google Home to ask SHIELD to locate your remote. Your Google Home must be signed into the same google account and be located in the same network as your SHIELD.

“OK Google, start the remote locator on SHIELD”

If you have enabled the NVIDIA SHIELD TV Skill on Alexa, you can use your paired Amazon Echo to locate your remote

“OK Google, ask SHIELD to find my remote”

WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS TO STREAM GAMES FROM MY PC AT 4K AT 60 FRAMES PER SECOND?

In order to stream games at 4K 60 FPS, your gaming PC must meet the following minimum requirements:

GPU: GeForce® RTX™ or GTX™ 1080 or higher GPU

CPU: Intel Core i7

WHAT ARE THE PC REQUIREMENTS TO STREAM GAMES FROM MY PC IN HDR?

In order to stream games in HDR, your SHIELD must be connected to a HDR10 compatible TV and your gaming PC must have a GeForce® GTX™ 10 series GPU or later.

HOW DO I USE GOOGLE HOME TO CONTROL MY SHIELD?

To control your SHIELD using a Google Home device, verify the following

1. Your SHIELD and Home device must be signed in with the same Google account
2. Your SHIELD and Home device must be connected to the same network

For a list of commands you can use, read our blog posting on Google Home and SHIELD.

HOW DO I USE AMAZON ECHO AND ALEXA TO CONTROL MY SHIELD?

The SHIELD Alexa skill can be used to control your SHIELD using a paired Amazon Echo device.

For setup instructions and a list of commands you can use, read our blog posting on Amazon Alexa and SHIELD.

HOW DO I USE THE SHIELD TV APP ON MY ANDROID/IOS PHONE?

Download the SHIELD TV app from the iOS App Store or Google Play Store. Make sure your phone is connected to the same network as your SHIELD and launch the app. Select your SHIELD from the list and follow the on-screen instructions to complete pairing.

With the new SHIELD TV app, you can

• Navigate SHIELD using D-pad or swipe pad
• Directly launch apps
• Locate lost SHIELD Remote (2010)
• Use mouse keyboard to navigate GeForce NOW UI

* As of November 2019