Aussiedroid 56 Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 (edited) Hi All, Had my graphics card burn out on my main media center PC running Emby Theater last week, and have got a 2017 NVidia Shield as a temporary replacement. All running well, but a quick query... I have noticed when compared to Emby Theater on PC that the image quality of the posters, thumbnails and the like seem to be low quality. When installing and testing it on a 1080p display things looked quite good, but now I have it connected to a larger 4k screen it appears to be much lower in quality than I am used to through Emby Theater. Video quality on playback seems to be in 4k (although need to test some more) but interface still seems lower. NVidia Shield is running in 4k @ 60hz according to the display settings. Is this is normal or if there are any settings to enable higher quality images in the Emby Android TV interface? Kinda looks like the interface is still running in a 1080p resolution on a 4k display. Not terrible but the blurriness is quite noticable going from Emby Theater on PC. Appreciate any advice. Thanks, AD EDIT: Playing around with the settings and resolutions this evening, it appears that the entire NVidia Shield interface (not specifically Emby) does not go any higher than 1080p. Both 4k and 1080p look identical, with or without HDR enabled. Maybe I am doing something wrong on my TV or NVS but haven't found a solution yet. Anyone else found a solution? Feel like I must be missing something obvious here.. Edited January 14, 2020 by Aussiedroid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14903 Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 Hi. Which generation of the Shield do you have? If it isn't the latest one, try putting the Shield in 1080 and let your TV scale it up to 4K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussiedroid 56 Posted January 15, 2020 Author Share Posted January 15, 2020 Hi ebr, Thanks for the reply. Its the 2017 model that I am testing. I've played around further with some of the TV picture settings and have got it looking a little better by increasing the sharpness and disabling a few other 'features'. The TV is a 75" Samsung Series 8 screen, which says it has upscaling but I cannot find any options for it so I assume its automatic. Regardless, if I choose 1080p or 2160p both remain exactly the same image quality, so hard to say if upscaling is working or not, or if the upscaling via the NVS vs TV is any better. I did find in the developer options under HDMI there is an option to "Show all supported modes in custom display modes". On restarting the NVS the interface was in 4k, but as a result the scaling was a bit too small to make it viable alternative. Doesnt seem to be any way to scale the interface independant of the resolution. Have you happened to try the 2019 model and the 2017 models? I am curious if the AI upscaling feature present in the new models makes much of a difference to the image quality or not to warrant the price increase, or if that is only active during video playback. The 2017 model I have will likely end up in my bedroom which only has a 1080p resolution but I am on the fence if I should buy another graphics card for my main media center PC or if it might be worth investing in the 2019 model instead. Sorry I know this isn't an Emby specific problem but appreciate any advice Thank you, AD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37007 Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 Can you show a screenshot example? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussiedroid 56 Posted January 15, 2020 Author Share Posted January 15, 2020 Hey Luke, I'll try to provide a comparison after work when I get home. Thanks, AD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussiedroid 56 Posted January 15, 2020 Author Share Posted January 15, 2020 Here is an example of the quality difference. Both taken @ 4k resolution, one from Emby Theater on Windows 10 PC and second one from the Nvidia Shield. There is no resizing/compression on either image. Bit more striking the quality difference when images are side by side: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37007 Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 Well it's not just limited to the image, the text is also much sharper on the PC. That would suggest to me that it's not actually running in 4K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussiedroid 56 Posted January 15, 2020 Author Share Posted January 15, 2020 Yeah, I agree. Although when I play a 4k movie I can clearly see it is in 4k and HDR etc. Seems like it is just the UI on the NVidia Shield that is rendered in 1080p despite the resolution being set to 4k. AD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37007 Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 It's common for smart TVs to render the apps in 1080p and video in 4k. Both lg and Samsung do that, so maybe that's what's happening here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanbuff 840 Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 Seems like it is just the UI on the NVidia Shield that is rendered in 1080p despite the resolution being set to 4k. Apparently that's a limitation of Android TV, not Shield specifically Similar threads on Reddit about it https://www.reddit.com/r/ShieldAndroidTV/comments/7fgluy/menu_in_4k/ Interesting how he thinks Kodi seems to render its UI in 4K though 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14903 Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 Yes, the UI on Android TV is 1080. I would try turning off all processing modes on your TV to see if it actually looks better. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussiedroid 56 Posted January 15, 2020 Author Share Posted January 15, 2020 Thanks guys! (there is always a catch huh ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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