Here we are with the fresh overview of the new set-top box that we recommend for using as an external Digital Signage player. Today for our testing we have absolutely new Nvidia Shield TV which was released in 2020. This is a junior model in line, which costs just 135 USD, but basically it is not limited in resources to normally display most of the cases created in our Look Content Manager.
First, let's talk about what it lacks comparing with the flagship model:
1. There are no USB ports, which, however, are not really required for our tasks.
2. Lack of a separate audio output, and it means that this model is not suitable for those who want to use it for audio streaming in their business or public facilities.
3. The RAM is only 2 gigabytes, which is again also quite enough for most cases.
Package
Let's take a look at the package bundle. Already from the box it becomes obvious, that the device is from the premium segment, everything is packed very concisely and looks expensive. So, here we have: the box itself, the remote and a power cable. And that is all. Looks quite poor, considering that at least it would be nice to add the HDMI cable, which can be highly useful in many cases. Well, if you’ll decide to use this device, then do not forget to purchase it additionally. But what I really liked here is that the power supply is already built into the device itself and you will not have any difficulties with placing it behind your TV in cases when it should be very close to the wall, for example. Now about the remote. It is quite stylish, ergonomic and fits well in the hand. Although for our task we only need it for the initial setup.
Tests
Nvidia shield TV has the fastest CPU, at least in graphics displaying, which, honestly, is not too surprising, because the company is originally one of the worldwide leaders in the production of graphics components for a wide range of the PCs.
That’s why we are going to make a stress testing for this device by creating a rather non-trivial case in our CMS, which will contain a playlist with 4K videos, playing simultaneously with different sorts of dynamic content made within our feature stack. So, let's place the RSS app to the right side of the screen, add the Twitter app as a running text. You can check how to do this in the Look Digital Signage service in additional materials, following the link I’ll leave in the description to this video. Ok, and finally we will add a third-party weather forecast widget using open iframe code with the corresponding application from our stack.
And here we are. Now let’s send it to our device.
Previously, we configured and signed in to the Google account and downloaded the Look app player from the Play Store. I skip all these steps, because I’ve been describing it in my previous posts, and, to be honest, basically it works identically on all the Android TVs.
Well, let’s check the result. All elements of our Layout are displayed correctly, which is important. All the animation, incl. running text, works just smoothly and without any artifacts, which from time to time appear on the cheaper models.
So, here is my conclusion. I would call this device as one of the best solutions based on Android for using with complex beautiful digital signage cases in a horizontal orientation. Yes, I didn’t make a reservation, unfortunately only in the horizontal one. Nvidia's firmware does not allow you to rotate the screen vertically, which is quite annoying and looks like serious drawback.
