The NVIDIA SHIELD, along with Sony TV sets powered by Android TV now support High Dynamic Range (HDR) content accessed via Google Play Movies & TV. Google confirmed the new support over the weekend via social media posts and therefore this is something that is likely to be active now for owners of these devices. Although Google had previously announced HDR support for Play Movies & TV, this update is specifically for content that is cast to those devices. In other words, users who often cast content to an NVIDIA SHIELD or a Sony TV powered by Android TV will now be able to cast HDR quality content as well. Again, this was also possible before although previously the ability to cast the content was reserved for owners of a Chromecast Ultra as the receiving device.
This is, of course, also dependent on the device in question also supporting HDR playback outside of Play Movies & TV. As a result, devices that don’t already support the standard will not be able to make use of this new feature, irrespective of the update. In addition to also having a suitable connection to support HDR. If these caveats are not applicable, then the newly-added support should be available and ready for use with the most recent update to the Play Movies & TV app. Although Google does also point out on its Play Help site, that users may need to adjust the settings on the TV first for it to take effect. In addition to noting how HDR playback is not available with SD or HD titles, just 4K UHD content.
Following this announcement, this week fuboTV also announced it has now started offering support for HDR10 content via its streaming service. Although the feature is only initially being made available in beta form, and specifically for select World Cup 2018 matches shown on FOX and FS1. So for those who often make use of Google Play Movies & TV and fuboTV, a few more options are now available to increase the quality and clarity of the viewing experience. Again, as long as the rest of the hardware setup also offers the same support.