11 Things You Need to Do to Take Full Advantage of Your Nvidia Shield

The Nvidia Shield Tv has been around for many years at this point, and through planned updates, it has continued to be one of the best gadgets running Google TV OS. If you own one of these set-top boxes, here are some ways you can make the most out of it.

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Connect a Keyboard and Mouse

Connecting a keyboard and mouse to your Nvidia Shield TV makes searching for things and inputting passwords a lot easier. While also enhancing your gaming experience across a wide variety of games. If your model has USB ports, then you should directly connect peripherals at the back of the device and immediately start using them.

All the models support Bluetooth connections, allowing you to pair a mouse or keyboard in the settings. Go to Remote and Accessories and Add Accessories. Different devices may work better than others, so make sure you do some research before purchasing one.

Locate Your Remote

If you have one of the newer models with a triangular-shaped remote, you can make it beep to find where it is. To do this, push the dedicated remote finder button next to the HDMI port, and the remote will beep.

If you have the Nvidia Shield TV Pro, navigate to Remotes and Accessories settings, choose your remote, and select the Find remote option. Since you are looking for a remote, you will have to use a mouse to access this menu or use your phone as a remote.

Remap The Remote

If you do not like your remote’s default button functions, you can make some changes. You can reprogram the Menu button in the settings. Open Remotes and Accessories, then choose Customize Menu Button.

For the other buttons, you will have to install a reliable Button Mapper on the device. It will allow you to change the functions for all buttons on the remotes.

Rearrange The Home Screen

You do not have to stick with your home screen as you got it. You put your favorite apps at the center to spend less time scrolling. Select an app on the home screen and choose the Move or Remove options.

Long press the navigation button to see the options. You can move the position of a shortcut or app or completely hide it from the app list row. You can also scroll down and customize the channels.

Instantly Switch Between Apps

If you are a serious binge-watcher, then you might find yourself constantly switching between different streaming platforms. With the Nvidia Shield TV, double tapping the home button will bring up your recently accessed apps for a quick switch.

Screenshot Games and Everything Else

To snap the screen you are currently viewing, long press the home button. But you will need to activate this overlay in the settings. From the main settings, go to Device Preferences and turn on Nvidia Share in System.

Adjust Internal Performance and External Brightness

The Nvidia Shield TV Pro has a green LED at the front, which may be too bright as you would like, but you can dim it easily. Go to Device Preferences in the settings. In the System, you will find LED brightness which allows you to choose between Off, Low, Medium, or High.

If your box has unnaturally low light, then you can fix it in the System menu in Device Preferences. Change the Processor mode setting to Optimized or Max performance. To save energy, you might want to keep this setting on the low side; high-performance mode is only necessary if you plan on playing games.

Enable GameStream

If you know Nvidia, then you would know they are all about gaming, and their Shield TV does well in that area. It can stream games from GeForce Now and other compatible Windows Computers with the GameStream feature on a local network.

Open Nvidia Games, and you will find GameStream PC in the Settings row. You’ll have to prepare your computer first if it meets the compatibility requirements. You must install the newest GeForce drivers, including the GeForce Experience utility. Enable GameStream on the Shield page of the utility settings.

Sideload Android Apps

Sometimes the apps you want will not be available on Google PlayStore because they aren’t fully optimized to work on Android TV. If you want to, You will have to sideload these apps to get them working on your TV, which is not as difficult as it may seem. Several apps will help you make this possible, including File Commander.

You can save the apk files on your Google Drive and use file commander to access and install them. Make sure you get the apps from a trustworthy source like APKMirror. The first time you try to install an APK, you will have to change the settings to allow the installation of apps from unknown sources.

Watch GeoRestricted Shows

Some streaming apps will not be available on your Nvidia Shield TV Google play store because of geographical restrictions, but with a little bit of side loading, you will have them up and running.

But there is a catch, once you open the app, some or all the videos will not play. A good workaround is installing Nvidia Shield TV VPN to access the content. You can get VPN apps from the Google play store or sideload them.

Try Out AI Upscaling

The newer Nvidia TV Shield models can do a great job of upscaling low-resolution videos by default. They also have AI-enhanced upscaling that tries to intelligently add details into frames and make them larger. AI upscaling enhances a lot of videos, and you can even compare the results side by side on your device.

Go to Device settings and, select AI upscaling, go to AI-Enhanced. Nvidia Shield TV has three enhancement levels, including Low, Medium, and High. Make sure you enable demo mode, which allows you to see a side-by-side comparison by pressing the Menu button on the remote.

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