Nvidia Defend is the AV nerds’ finest different to Apple TV

Relating to streaming units, most individuals go for identified entities just like the Apple TV 4K, the Roku Ultra, or the Amazon Fire TV Stick. However for the audio-video nerds on the market seeking to take their streaming expertise to the following degree, there’s one other nice gadget to think about: the Nvidia Shield TV Pro.

Nvidia, finest identified for its high-end graphics processors, debuted the primary Defend TV again in Could 2015. It targeted on downloading and streaming video games from appropriate PCs on the identical community, and a Professional mannequin was even launched in 2017. Then, the gadget received a giant refresh in 2019 with upgraded processors and a brand new cylindrical kind issue for the non-Professional mannequin.

Since then, the Nvidia Shield TV Pro has been the go-to gadget for folks seeking to stream content material in nearly any format conceivable, with a major quantity of person management over the system, nice options for streaming content material saved on native networks, and the power to play high-quality video games from a PC.

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Nvidia has pushed an replace to its Defend TV units that lastly ditches Gamestream in favour of GeForce Now.

Highly effective specs

A system to satisfy everybody’s wants

Regardless of debuting in 2019, the Nvidia Shield TV Pro is still a powerful device. It options the Nvidia Tegra X1+ processor, with a 256-core GPU and 3GB RAM. It has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, in addition to an HDMI 2.0 port that’s HDCP 2.2 compliant. It additionally has 16GB onboard storage, which is just a little on the small finish, however customers can improve the storage utilizing a USB stick or exterior exhausting drive utilizing one of many Defend’s two USB 3.0 ports.

Powered by Android 11.0 with Android TV and built-in Chromecast, the Nvidia Defend TV Professional helps all kinds of video and audio codecs. It’s 4K HDR prepared, with help for HDR10 and Dolby Imaginative and prescient HDR, and natively performs MKV, MP4, MOV, WEB-M, and a wide range of different widespread video information. The audio aspect is the place the Defend shines much more, supporting lossless Dolby Digital and Dolby Atmos, in addition to DTS-X pass-through, and a big selection of lossless and compressed audio information.

Moreover, the Defend has Google Assistant built-in, and is appropriate with Amazon’s Alexa, for customers searching for hands-free management of the gadget. The gadget is bundled with quite a few streaming apps, together with Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video, and extra. Plus, customers can obtain extra apps from the Google Play Retailer.

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Gaming goodness

Stream all one of the best video games

Xbox

Together with streaming films and TV, the Nvidia Defend TV Professional is nice for players seeking to carry the PC expertise to their televisions. Due to Nvidia GeForce NOW help, customers can stream video games they already personal proper from the cloud.

Join a wi-fi sport controller utilizing Bluetooth, and the Defend will provide the video games in high-resolution, turning the Defend right into a surprisingly nice different to a dearer standalone console.

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The house server life

Streaming a private library

Due to its broad, native help for a wide range of video and audio codecs, the Nvidia Defend TV Professional can also be the proper gadget for individuals who have a big library of video and audio content material saved regionally. Blu-ray collectors who rip their discs to a hard-drive, for instance, can simply stream their information from an area server on the community on to the Defend, with no worries about codecs being unsupported.

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For these of you who nonetheless use Nvidia’s Defend, you could be glad to know the platform simply gained a well-liked app: The Apple TV app.

It is an all-purpose streamer

Give it an opportunity — you will not remorse it

Nvidia

Although there are newer streaming units in the marketplace, and extra fashionable ones, the Nvidia Defend TV Professional is a robust contender for one of the best streaming field accessible.

It helps nearly each format underneath the solar, is very customizable due to its Android-based working system, and is nice for gaming. It is particularly value contemplating for anyone with a giant native server full of films and TV reveals they’re seeking to stream to their TV on the highest attainable high quality.

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