[atc98092]

I agree. Roku for everything streaming outside of netflix and a fire stick for kodi and local content. I have to use the Netflix app on my TVs to get proper outputs but that isn't a big deal.

I wouldn't use a Fire TV device for local media. Use Kodi on the Shield with a Gigabit network adapter. I've never used a Fire TV device, but I have my doubts it can bitstream TrueHD or DTS-MA, even using Kodi. If that's wrong, I'd appreciate knowing exactly what it can bitstream.

 

[DougDingle]

At the risk of reactivating the Prime Video hate here, I made an interesting discovery last night.

I get CBS All Access as a channel through Prime Video, and have usually watched it through my 2019 Shield tube, but last night, after seeing all the complaints that it's only in stereo through the Shield, I decided to check the display of the input and output audio formats in my Yamaha AVR while re-watching the season finale of season 3 of Star Trek Discovery.

When I saw that I was only getting stereo from the Shield, I switched over to my 2019 Roku Ultra - and I got DD+ 5.1 there on the same episode.

Yet one more reason to run multiple streamers. So now I have a second reason to use my old Ultra, in addition to watching Apple TV+, which isn't on the Shield at all. I use the Shield for everything else I stream, however.

There seems to be some issue writing proper streamer apps for the AndroidTV OS. Both the Roku Ultra and ATV4K have no problem with 5.1 audio on CBS AA, but neither my Shield Pro nor my Sony TV can do anything but stereo. Since Netflix and Disney+ apps on the Shield are capable of having audio all the way up to Atmos (when available), it's clearly something to do with a combination of incompetent app developers and the host service being too stupid to understand there's an issue despite repeated ticket submissions by me and many others to tech support.

I just gave up on CBS AA as a result. I'm not spending $120/yr on a service too stupid to understand that it's 2021, and UHD and at minimum 5.1 audio has become all the rage when streaming.

Since you watched season 3 of STD (an unfortunate acronym), was is still 1080p with DolbyVision? Has CBS Discovered the existence of UHD yet?

 

[Philnick]

There seems to be some issue writing proper streamer apps for the AndroidTV OS. Both the Roku Ultra and ATV4K have no problem with 5.1 audio on CBS AA, but neither my Shield Pro nor my Sony TV can do anything but stereo. Since Netflix and Disney+ apps on the Shield are capable of having audio all the way up to Atmos (when available), it's clearly something to do with a combination of incompetent app developers and the host service being too stupid to understand there's an issue despite repeated ticket submissions by me and many others to tech support.

I just gave up on CBS AA as a result. I'm not spending $120/yr on a service too stupid to understand that it's 2021, and UHD and at minimum 5.1 audio has become all the rage when streaming.

Since you watched season 3 of STD (an unfortunate acronym), was is still 1080p with DolbyVision? Has CBS Discovered the existence of UHD yet?

It was 1080p. I use a projector, so Dolby Vision is unavailable to me. Didn't check to see whether it was HDR10 or SDR, but with my projector, SDR looks great as well - and most projection involves fitting HDR into what SDR can handle in any event. (That's what "tone mapping" is, after all.)

I don't get as uptight about specs as some - story content is most important to me, production quality is second, and transmission and reproduction quality are last - and projected 11'4" wide by 4'8" tall (147.33" diagonal) it looked great.

 

[badtlc]

I wouldn't use a Fire TV device for local media. Use Kodi on the Shield with a Gigabit network adapter. I've never used a Fire TV device, but I have my doubts it can bitstream TrueHD or DTS-MA, even using Kodi. If that's wrong, I'd appreciate knowing exactly what it can bitstream.

I will test when kodi gets fixed. Amazon OS had an update and right now passthrough on Kodi does not work. both Kodi and Amazon are working on the fix.

Amazon is adding the ability to do HD audio but nobody seems certain if this will add trueHD passthrough ability or not. I don't have much use for TrueHD right now so it doesn't really impact me.

I don't expect trueHD to be added in this gen.

 

[Josh Z]

Yeah, 5.1 (and DD+ it says) have been available on the Roku since the start, I believe. You had to select it from the * button dropdown for every episode you watched because the default was for stereo.

That's only the case when using the CBS All Access app. If you subscribe to CBS All Access through either the Amazon or Apple TV "channels" systems, those will default to 5.1 every episode without needing to manually select it. The downside to that is no HDR through Amazon.

^Note that this is true for Roku only. The Shield has no * button on the remote, so it's impossible to get better than stereo from the CBS-AA app. The Amazon app on Shield is a buggy mess that reverts to stereo all the time for no reason, and you can't get Apple TV at all due to Apple and Android hating each other's guts.

 

[KingNothing81]

and you can't get Apple TV at all due to Apple and Android hating each other's guts.

The Apple TV app is already available on some recent Sony TVs running Android TV and will also be available on Google’s new Chromecast with Google TV in the near future. So it wouldn’t surprise me if the Apple TV app will also be made available on Android TV devices in general (including the Shield TV) in the not so distant future.

The Apple TV app is on its way to Chromecast with Google TV

In 2021, the Apple TV app is coming to Chromecast with Google TV, with more Android TV OS devices to follow.

blog.google

 

[naustin]

The Apple TV app is already available on some recent Sony TVs running Android TV and will also be available on Google’s new Chromecast with Google TV in the near future. So it wouldn’t surprise me if the Apple TV app will also be made available on Android TV devices in general (including the Shield TV) in the not so distant future.

The Apple TV app is on its way to Chromecast with Google TV

In 2021, the Apple TV app is coming to Chromecast with Google TV, with more Android TV OS devices to follow.

blog.google

It may be awhile, until a new OS version perhaps. If I search for "Apple TV" on my 2018 Sony 900F's Android TV interface (version 9) it shows AppleTV but says its not compatible with my TV.

 

[KingNothing81]

It may be awhile, until a new OS version perhaps. If I search for "Apple TV" on my 2018 Sony 900F's Android TV interface (version 9) it shows AppleTV but says its not compatible with my TV.

Yes, that’s the same old story on Smart TVs ... new features and/or apps will only arrive on the current models and sometimes also on the last year’s ones. But I don’t think that the Apple TV app will also arrive on a TV from 2018, even when the app will be available on Android TV in general. I’m pretty sure they will block installation on the old Sony TVs in that case, as that’s how they “encourage” people to buy new TVs regularly.

And that’s why many people prefer external streaming devices and only use their TV as a display. But I’m very optimistic we will see the Apple TV app on Shield TV soon.

 

[DougDingle]

It was 1080p. I use a projector, so Dolby Vision is unavailable to me. Didn't check to see whether it was HDR10 or SDR, but with my projector, SDR looks great as well - and most projection involves fitting HDR into what SDR can handle in any event. (That's what "tone mapping" is, after all.)

I don't get as uptight about specs as some - story content is most important to me, production quality is second, and transmission and reproduction quality are last - and projected 11'4" wide by 4'8" tall (147.33" diagonal) it looked great.

This is less about specs and more about the gall of Viacom to charge $10/mo for a technically downgraded from common streaming standards service, and then refusing to even acknowledge that there's any issue. Perhaps the rumors will come true and Apple will buy Viacom and slap them into this century.

In any case, I'm going to stop complaining about them now. They've lost my $120/yr fee, and that will have to suffice. I will somehow manage to carry on without seeing anything past the first season episodes of STD and Picard. Such is life.

 

[naustin]

Yes, that’s the same old story on Smart TVs ... new features and/or apps will only arrive on the current models and sometimes also on the last year’s ones. But I don’t think that the Apple TV app will also arrive on a TV from 2018, even when the app will be available on Android TV in general. I’m pretty sure they will block installation on the old Sony TVs in that case, as that’s how they “encourage” people to buy new TVs regularly.

And that’s why many people prefer external streaming devices and only use their TV as a display. But I’m very optimistic we will see the Apple TV app on Shield TV soon.

I use multiple streamers on my two mainTVs :the nVidia tube, ATV4K, Roku Ultra and FTV cube. All have AppleTV except the Sony & nVidia running Android 9. Let's hope GoogleTV comes with version 11.

 

[groove93]

A bit off topic but I was informed that my Car insurance Premium for 6-months decreased by 30 dollars. Out of curiosity, I checked into to other bills and services I could possibly lower.

I called my Internet Provider and they were able to increase my speed from 25 Mbps to 105 Mbps for 10 dollars lower than what I was originally paying. The upgrade was quick.

When I got home from work, I tested the speed, and then I proceeded to look for HDR/60fps videos on Youtube for both my Shield and my Chromecast with Google TV. In the past these videos struggled to stream after a few minutes. Knowing the Shield does not support HDR for Youtube, these videos still had problems streaming.

This time around with the faster internet connection, HDR/60fps files from Youtube played with no lost packets on both the Shield and CCwGTV. My connection speed for both devices ranged between 65 and 95 Mbps. Again, no lost packets, no studdering images, or loss of audio. Thanks to @Foxbat121 for pointing that out a few weeks ago.

So it makes me wonder when Google/Youtube implemented the "Software" decoding of HDR on youtube, was my issue with the Shield, or my Internet Speed? I know many users had issues with hdr-60 while hdr-30/24 worked fine.

 

[x-evil-x]

In my situation, I wanted to use different Video and Input modes between my Shield and Xbox One X using my Harmony Remote.

For the Xbox, I wanted to Switch to HDMI3/Arc/Game Mode on my Display.
For the Shield, I wanted to Switch to HDMI 2/Cinema Home on my Display.

HDMI 3 on my Display is connected to Monitor 1/Arc on my Marantz for use with the Xbox One
HDMI 2 on my Display is connected to Monitor 2 on my Marantz for use with the Shield.

For some strange reason when I switch back to the Shield with my remote, the display would suddenly switch back to HDMI3, and I would have to manually adjust the Input on my TV. If I wanted to use the Xbox, the switch was normal. Assuming I had CEC turned off on all of my components, I had to dig into the settings for my Marantz and discovered that CEC (or HDMI Control) was enabled. When I disabled it, my Harmony Activities worked fine.

this is how I have mine setup. Just pass through and hdmi control is off. It’s also off on the tv’s too.
I haven’t gotten the shield to display anything in the room in days now unless I open kodi then that shows up.
one thing I noticed too if I turn on the front room receiver it will work in my bedroom with main on and bedroom on. But it won’t show anything with zone 2. So something is having issues displaying zone2.
it’s only a shield issue though as all my other devices work in my room. Appletv4k, ps5, sony 800m2. It’s a bit bizarre

 

[Philnick]

It's now official. I'll now watch Prime Video through my 2019 4K Roku Ultra, not my Shield. I had the same experience with Warehouse 13, which I paid to put into my Prime Video library: its soundtrack is 5.1 when played through my Roku but only stereo when played through my 2019 4K Shield.

 

[lujan]

It's now official. I'll now watch Prime Video through my 2019 4K Roku Ultra, not my Shield. I had the same experience with Warehouse 13, which I paid to put into my Prime Video library: its soundtrack is 5.1 when played through my Roku but only stereo when played through my 2019 4K Shield.

I'm getting 5.1 audio on my 2019 Shield for this show as shown here. Did you turn Off "Dolby audio processing in the settings? It seems Prime audio only works correctly when this is turned Off.

 

[Philnick]

I've had "Dolby audio processing" turned off on my Shield since I first set it up. I get Atmos on The Aeronauts - an Amazon Original - and 5.1 on other things - it's totally unpredictable.

And I get Atmos on Groundhog Day through the Shield with VUDU. (Which is very nice - the film's soundtrack doesn't have any real "overhead" effects but the Atmos gives it very realistic environments.)

BTW, that processing knocks DD+ back to DD, so it would mean turning 7.1 and and Atmos into 5.1 - not stereo. This is purely Prime app wierdness.

 

[Josh Z]

I'm getting 5.1 audio on my 2019 Shield for this show as shown here. Did you turn Off "Dolby audio processing in the settings? It seems Prime audio only works correctly when this is turned Off.

Many of us have turned off that setting only for the Prime app to randomly revert to stereo anyway, unless you uninstall and reinstall the app every time you want to use it. That app is a disaster on Shield. Better to just keep a second streaming device around for the handful of apps Shield has problems with and will seemingly never get fixed.

 

[3nsdan 2]

I’m getting a shield tube today, mainly for Netflix. I’ve been following this thread off and on for a while; but I’m not clear about the refresh rate situation. I will need to run that app and manually choose 24.000 or 23.976 depending on the content?

 

[groove93]

If you're getting the Shield tube mainly for Netflix, then you may want to look into a cheaper device such as the Chromecast with Google TV or an equivalent. The Chromecast with Google TV can be purchased for $100 less.

 

[chadwick537]

Looking for some advice - just purchased the Shield Tube as I wanted AndroidTV and the Chromecast is kind of a mess right now.

I have an LG B8 OLED and LG SL8YG soundbar that decodes DD+, Atmos etc.

I have the Shield going to the TV and then ARC back to the soundbar.

I'm getting intermittent audio skips (less than 2 sec drop) on Netflix that I have never had using a FireStick, the CCGTV, or the internal apps.

I have Dolby Digital Audio Processing turned OFF, Dolby Vision turned on (read that long ago that might be an issue), and the tube on ethernet w/ 200mb.

Any suggestions?

 

[3nsdan 2]

If you're getting the Shield tube mainly for Netflix, then you may want to look into a cheaper device such as the Chromecast with Google TV or an equivalent. The Chromecast with Google TV can be purchased for $100 less.

I had already tried of that. CCWGTV doesn’t do 24.000, and doesn’t support the refresh rate app. It actually doesn’t do anything well in my opinion.