My media center
This contains guides for how to set up NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV as media center and gaming platform. The end result is shown in this Youtube video:
The journey so far
In the last ten years I have gone through a series of different media center platforms:
- Apple Mac Mini
- Apple TV
- Playstation 3
- Playstation 4
- Raspberry PI
- NVIDIA Shield Android TV (current)
My goal
Whenever I’ve set up a new media center, I’ve tried to achieve as many of the following goals as possible:
- The box must unobtrusive – ideally small enough to be hidden away
- One remote control to rule them all (TV, media center, and sound system)
- One user interface that can launch everything
- 4K video
- Passthrough audio
- Refresh rates that match the videos and games
- Playback of movies and series from my NAS storage
- Live TV and PVR
- Netflix, HBO and similar services
- Youtube
- Music streaming from one of the major providers
- Slideshows when listening to music
- Emulators for as many platforms as possible
- Ability to play or stream modern games
- ChromeCast/Airplay
My current media center setup using the NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV is the closest I feel I’ve gotten to my dream setup. The Raspberry PI is in a close second place. If you like what you see in the Youtube video then you can follow the guides on this website to set up your own media center in the same way.
Have fun!
– Allan Lindqvist