I’m beginning to wonder why Nvidia included a screen on its Shield gaming handheld. I’ve barely looked at it in over a month, thanks to the Android handheld’s GameStream console mode, and now that it can stream games from my PC to the TV at 1080p? I might never open it again.
This week’s update for the portable Android console I rarely use to play Android games makes it even more unlikely that I will put down my Nexus 7 anytime soon. Games streamed from my PC to TV through the unit at the wireless-supported 720p worked well enough. At 60 frames-per-second 1080p? Forget about it.
Mind you, 1080p is not happening wirelessly — if that’s all you’ve got, then really forget about it. You’ll need an ethernet cable for 1080p, and it’ll have to not only go through the system’s micro-USB port, it’ll need a pass-through if you want to keep the power going.
There are ways of making it work — I don’t have one yet, but I am just fine playing Assassin’s Creed IV at 720p. Not all games support 1080p streaming yet anyway, so we have time.
Also included in the latest Shield update is community functionality for the Gamepad Mapper, allowing folks to share control mapping configurations for Android games, which seems lovely.
You can read about all the enhancements on Nvidia’s blog, while I shop around for an ethernet solution of some sort.
Comments
6 responses to “Nvidia’s Shield Can Now Stream PC Games At 1080p To Your TV”
Yeah…my PC can do that too, and doesn’t need to stream. It’s called getting an HDMI cable and hooking my tower to the TV. Who are these devices aimed at? Seems like such a novelty and waste of money.
Now international release please
I’m interested in the Shield 2. Too many limits on this first one. I don’t really understand why it can’t just stream anything that is on the screen, why is it limited to just certain games? There are things available like Splashtop that can stream and control anything.
Wouldn’t you get input lag with all that streaming?
Depends on the speed of your connection as always.
I may be missing something here – If you need an ethernet cable to do this, (and therefore need everything in the same room) why not just get a HDMI cable and plug the PC in directly to the TV then use a logitech wireless remote?
I too would like to know what benefits there are over a straight HDMI cable and a wireless 360 controller. I admit I don’t know enough about the device, perhaps it is able to stream the game while leaving the PC’s desktop available for other tasks, ie; someone else surfing the web/email etc???
I really think Steam should be releasing something like this, instead of the Steam Box. Considering people who want Steam in the living room (most likely) already have a PC capable of playing those games already – it’s just too far away, in the office.