In a bid to dominate the over-the-top set-top box landscape, the Nvidia unwrapped its high-end streaming set-top box in May: the Shield Android TV. Now, Nvidia is rolling out a firmware update, the version 2.0, allowing playback of selected Android games in 4K.
Presently, the version 2.0 is bringing support for only 12 native Android games in 4K, including Bombsquad, Beach Buggy Racing, Riptide GP 2, Hardwood Solitaire IV, Kosmik Revenge, Leo's Fortune, Video Poker Duel, Machinarium, Never Alone, Meltdown, Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders, and Samurai II.
Nvidia, however, did say that it is currently working with developers to add 4K-native assets to their games.
The update 2.0 also comes with Nvidia's new game streaming service, dubbed the GeForce Now. This means that the service is already available on Shield Android TV devices.
We earlier reported that Nvidia renamed the video game streaming service Grid to GeForce Now. The company launched GeForce Now on Thursday, Oct. 1, with a library of more than 50 titles. The service will cost customers $7.99 every month after a three-month free trial on Shield devices. The service is connected to Nvidia's supercomputers, allowing gamers to stream games at 1080 p at 60 fps.
What's more, the update also showcases new codecs that movie fanatics will surely appreciate.
Specifically, the update adds the following codec and container support: pass-through support for Dolby TrueHD as well as DTS-HD Master Audio lossless audio; MPEG2, VC-1, and WMV9 hardware-acceleration; M2TS, ASF, and WMV container support for VC-1; and WMA audio support, which includes WMA Pro and WMA Lossless.
The update also incorporates the 23.976 Hz playback support and overscan adjustment.
"Now you can adjust the image on the screen to perfectly fit your TV. Enable this feature in Settings > Device > HDMI > Adjust for Overscan," reads the release notes of the upgrade 2.0.
The upgrade 2.0 also offers a handful of other enhancements, including the capability to move data files from USB to MicroSD with the use of the ES File Explorer, the video playback experience for YouTube and Netflix, the lower audio latency for gameplay, along with the option to manually shut off the Shield controller by holding the Nvidia button for six seconds.
