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Nvidia makes Shield TV’s impressive 4K upscaling even more useful with new update

Nvidia makes Shield TV’s impressive 4K upscaling even more useful with new update

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And you can do more with the customizable remote button

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Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Nvidia is delivering a number of new features to the tube-shaped Shield TV and Shield TV Pro streaming devices it released last year, and older models are also getting improvements. The company patted itself on the back with a blog post celebrating the 25th software update for Shield TV. It’s fair to say that Nvidia knows its audience, and this latest round of upgrades is targeted at home theater enthusiasts and streaming power users.

The impressive, AI-powered 4K upscaling feature of the 2019 Shield TV and Shield TV Pro will now work with 360p and 1440p content in addition to the 720p and 1080p resolutions that it supported before. (The Pro model can now upscale 60fps content, which should prove handy for sports.)

Owners of the newer Shield TVs can also now do more with the remote control: the customizable menu button can now be assigned actions for a double press and long press, Nvidia says you can pick from 25 actions in all, so this extends beyond just more shortcuts for your favorite apps. (If you bought the remote separately for an older Shield TV, you get these expanded customizations too.)

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

IR and CEC volume control support have been improved in the latest update, with support for digital projectors and the ability to adjust volume even when the Shield itself isn’t active. “It also adds IR volume control when using the Shield TV app, and when you’ve paired your Google Home with Shield. The 2019 Shield remote adds IR control to change the input source on TVs, AVRs and soundbars,” Nvidia said.

And the last bit of good news for home theater nerds: Nvidia says that older models of the Shield (2015 and 2017) are getting an option to always match the frame rate of displayed content.