Today at the Game Developer Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, Nvidia made an announcement of a new device they are bringing to the market dubbed the Nvidia Shield. There are two important aspects to note with this device. The first is that it is Nvidia’s entrance into the Android TV market and secondly, it is the world first 4K Android TV device. With such a massive resolution coupled with Nvidia’s background in game processing, it should not be too much of a surprise to learn that this device will place a focus on gaming.
To give you a better understanding of what is on offer, here is a quick rundown of the specs on offer with the Nvidia Shield. The 4K shield comes with 3GB RAM and powered by a NVIDIA Tegra X1 processor with 256-core Maxwell GPU. Storage-wise, the Shield comes with 16GB internal storage as standard and also comes with a MicroSD card slot for additional storage up to a maximum of 128GB. In terms of video, the Shield comes with a 4K Ultra-HD Ready display with 4K playback and video capture up to 60 frames per second (VP9, H265, H264). In terms of audio, the Shield comes with 7.1 and 5.1 surround sound pass-through over HDMI as well as High-resolution audio playback up to 24-bit/192kHz. Not to mention high-resolution audio upsample to 24-bit/192hHz over USB . In terms of gaming, the Shield offers access to NVIDIA GameStream as well as NVIDIA GRID streaming service. In terms of wireless connections, the Shield connects via WiFi 802.11ac 2×2 MIMO 2.4 GHz and 5GHz and also Bluetooth 4.1/BLE.
The Nvidia Shield comes with a HDMI 2.0 socket, two USB 3.0 (A) sockets, Micro-USB 2.0 socket and a Gigabit Ethernet socket. The Shield also has IR receiver technology built in which will be compatible with Logitech Harmony. In terms of the dimension, the Shield is 5.1 inches in height (130mm), 8.3 inches in width (210mm) and 1 inch in depth (25mm). While the unit weighs in at 654g. Of course to take advantage of the 4K resolution properly you will need a 4K compatible TV or display. It is also worth noting that the remote control will not run on traditional batteries but instead will be rechargeable via USB. In terms of price, the Nvidia Shield will cost $199 at launch and this price will include the Shield game controller. Additional accessories will include controllers, remote control and a stand which will offer the option to vertically stand the device. In terms of when, the Nvidia Shield is scheduled for a May release time.
