Based in rural Minnesota, Brian Burgess worked in IT for 10 years before finding his passion for writing about consumer technology.
Brian earned his degree in computer and network technology in 2000. He held various IT positions, including help desk support, router installations for IBM, database administration, and other associate network administration roles.
He's been a personal technology journalist for 18 years and has written thousands of articles about Microsoft products and services, Android, iOS, streaming, and more. He has written for notable tech sites including XDA, InformationWeek, How-To Geek, Byte, groovyPost, and others.
When he is away from the keyboard, you will hear him playing guitar, working outdoors, and watching Star Trek.
When I watch a UHD 4K Blu-ray and then switch to streaming services, I see clearcompression artifacts. So I was curious how a lossless DVD rip upscaled on the Nvidia Shield TV, would compare to the same movie on 4K streaming. When I ran the test, I was surprised by how well the upscaled movie held up against the higher-definition stream.
I chose a DVD rip that could be upscaled using all the upscaling modes. I rented the same movie from Google Play to stream in 4K for comparison. I found a few interesting things along the way.
AI upscaling isn't guaranteed
You may not want it if the DVD looks good without it
The Shield TV Pro uses three types of video upscaling: Basic, Enhanced, and AI-enhanced. The basic mode filters and enlarges the DVD to fit a larger display. Enhanced mode further improves the picture with more advanced filtering to smooth it and reduce jagged edges. It serves as a fallback for unsupported video when AI-enhanced upscaling isn't supported.
But you might not want to use it since it can get overzealous trying to improve a video's quality. The result may look worse than you want. The Shield TV doesn't automatically use AI-enhanced upscaling just because you enabled the option. The mode depends on the video's compatibility. It has several requirements, and if the conditions aren't met, it reverts to enhanced mode.
The easiest way I found to check is to play a DVD rip and see whether the Shield TV is using AI upscaling. Once a video was playing, I just checked the settings menu. It displays whether it is active in the top-right corner of the screen. I had a few DVDs where the Shield TV was being used. So I chose one of those movies to compare with the 4K streaming version.
Choosing a DVD
I wanted to test all upscaling modes against the 4K stream
I went through my lossless DVD rips on my Plex server and settled on Star Trek: Generations widescreen collector's edition because it supported AI upscaling, and I knew the movie well enough to compare different scenes. I watched key scenes with AI upscaling on and then again with it off. The feature doesn't magically turn my DVDs into UHD, and I wasn't sure how the sharper visuals would compare to the same movie's 4K streaming version.
In some scenes, Enhanced Mode was good enough because the AI upscaling was too subtle to notice. In some cases, I had to turn it off because it got carried away. It emphasized the grainy DVD look we're all used to, with strong artifacts or halo effects in action scenes. The difference was subtle, not a game changer. I also used demo mode to compare AI-enhanced upscaling with basic upscaling on the same screen. That made me hesitant to use AI mode at all. Still, I wanted to test the Shield TV's upscaling against the 4K stream.
DVD with upscaling vs 4K stream
I connected my Shield via Ethernet to avoid Wi-Fi mishaps that could skew the stream. I also kept the same picture settings for both. I bounced back and forth between the DVD and the 4K stream. I started with the upscaled DVD, thinking I could easily tell the difference in picture quality when I moved to streaming. At first glance, the stream popped on my TV. The colors were brighter, and the scenes looked crisper. But I couldn't help noticing the compression artifacts.
When I viewed the upscaled DVD up close, the jaggies and grain were quite noticeable. From further back, I didn't see as much difference between the two. It's like viewing a low-res photo on your phone and then enlarging it on your computer screen; the quality difference stands out. Seating distance played a big role in the test.
I kept turning AI upscaling on and off to compare how the movie looked in each format. I viewed from different angles and distances. Eventually, I gave up on AI upscaling because it made the DVD look worse. It exaggerated grain, color, and other outlines too much. The enhanced upscaling was best for the movie I picked for this demonstration.
The upscaled DVD was perfectly watchable. However, the stream ultimately provided a better picture, with more vivid colors, smooth motion, and tighter scenes. The Shield TV's upscaling won't turn a DVD into HDR quality, but I was surprised by how good the picture looked. The 4K stream's picture quality edged out the upscaled disc rip, but not by a ton.
Nvidia Shield TV Pro
The Shield's upscaled DVD holds up against 4K streaming better than you'd think
While the 4K stream had better picture quality, the Shield TV's upscaled DVD wasn't terrible. The picture was duller and grainier, but I could still sit through the upscaled version without being appalled by the quality. With AI upscaling enabled, I couldn't sit through it. However, that could be my movie choice; every video varies. Overall, though, the Nvidia Shield made the older disc more enjoyable to watch.