The update packs plenty of bug fixes and other enhancements as well
Despite its age, the Nvidia Shield is among the best streaming devices in the market. And it can be used for more than just streaming movies and TV shows—you can set it up as a Plex server or play PC games using GeForce Now. While the device is expensive at $200, its performance and Nvidia’s solid software support help justify that to a certain extent. The company last rolled out a minor update for the box in April to fix some lingering bugs after the Android TV 11 release. Fast-forward a couple of months, and a new Shield Experience Upgrade 9.1 update is out for the box with some notable new features.
An automatic game mode and a night listening mode are the highlights of the latest release. The former will ensure your TV switches to a low latency gaming mode when a game is fired up on the Shield TV, though it will only work with TVs that support Automatic Low Latency Mode (ALLM). The latter will automatically level the low and high sounds when using HDMI audio to deliver a consistent experience when the volume level is low. This will prevent your family or friends from being disturbed by your late-night gaming or binge-watching sessions. It might arguably also make for a better blockbuster watching experience during the day, given how many movies come with inaudible dialogues and the loudest possible explosions these days.
For Shield Pro users, the update adds AI upscaling support for HDR10 60Hz videos. The update also introduces the ability to wake up the streaming box using the power or Netflix button on the remote. And if you use the Shield game controller, there’s an option to wake up the box only when the logo button is pressed.
If you value your privacy, you’ll be happy to know the streaming box will display a notification whenever an app uses the microphone. You should also see an improvement in file transfer speeds when using external storage devices.
There are plenty of other bug fixes and enhancements that the Shield Experience Upgrade 9.1 update introduces. The full changelog of the release is below.
Enhancements:
- Adds support to automatically enable game mode on supported TVs (ALLM)
- Adds night listening mode (HDMI audio only)
- Adds option specify network workgroup when connecting to SHIELD over local network
- Adds option to create your own password when connecting to SHIELD over local network
- [SHIELD Pro 2019] Adds AI upscaling support for 60Hz HDR10 video
- [SHIELD Remote 2019] Adds option to only wake SHIELD with power button or NETFLIX button
- [Game Controllers] Adds option to only wake SHIELD with logo button
- Adds option to match uncompressed audio with Dolby reference volume levels
- Adds option to disable displaying HDR/Dolby Vision content
- Adds notification when app uses microphone
Bug Fixes:
Display
- Fixes bug where Dolby Vision mode would become re-enabled after reboot
Network
- Resolves issue where link speed was not reported when connecting ethernet cable
- Resolves issue where “Restart Wi-fi” in Quick Settings was not working properly
Audio
- Resolve audio pops heard after hotplug of USB audio devices
- Fixes bug where some apps would only play through headphones after “Match content audio resolution” is enabled
- Resolves issue where HDMI fixed volume required disable-enable cycle to work properly
- Fixes bug where stereo upmix would not become enabled after playing multichannel discrete audio
- [SHIELD 2019] Disables comfort noise feature when Dolby Audio Processing is enabled
Storage
- Improves file transfer speeds to attached storage
- Resolves issues where NAS would not reconnect after SHIELD restart
Accessories
- Fixes bug where SHIELD Controller 2017 or SHIELD Remote 2015 would not auto pair after taking upgrade
SHIELD TV app
- Fixes bug where SHIELD TV app would not send keyboard entries while streaming GeForce NOW
- Resolves SHIELD TV app issue where user could not copy/paste text (passwords, URL, etc)
Other
- Resolves issue connecting to GeForce NOW servers while NVIDIA Share is active
- Improves stream to twitch duration indefinitely
- Resolves issue where system would become unresponsive after enabling Dolby Audio Processing from quick menu
- Resolves issue where SHIELD would wake up unexpectedly
- Improved HDMI-CEC compatibility with other HDMI connected devices
- Resolves issue where app switcher (double tap home) would not show most recent screenshot properly
- Resolves adb connection issue where host PC would need to be re-authorized after 7 days
- Fixes bug where D-pad “up” and “down” would not function after upgrade
The update is already rolling out to all Shield TV owners. The release could introduce some unwanted new bugs or issues, so you may want to go through the discussions on Nvidia’s forums before pressing that update button.
