Why is the Netflix app on my shield low-res (but the videos are 4K)?

by canucktesladude

I have a LG OLED TV with built in apps like Netflix, when I go through the app all the menus and everything are super sharp and in 4K. Same on my Apple TV.

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On my new Shield that I absolutely adore with the exception of this, the Netflix videos are all 4K and gorgeous, but the menus themselves are like 1080p or something and look super blurry and washed out compared to the built in apps on my TV?

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Is this a bug in the app or do I need to change a setting or something? To be clear other apps are fine, the videos are beautiful, it's just the menus look a lot worse than my built in TV apps or the Apple TV Netflix app.

TopShelfThots

Are you familiar with adb? If you can access adb, you can input certain commands to make the ui 4K. Unfortunately, certain apps become broken and Netflix itself still is rendered in 1080p. But it looks GREAT. Let me know if you can access adb and I’ll send you the commands.

joazito

Since you can compare 3 apps,

I've had people telling me that video colors on Netflix are worse on their Android TV box than in their TV's app. Have you noticed any difference at all?

BurtMacklin-FBl

Menus are 1080p, which wouldn't be much of a problem if the upscaling on the shield wasn't absolutely horrible. People always recommend an external box vs the supposedly inferior built in OS while ignoring the fact that anything less than 4K doesn't uses the built in scaler on the TV which is far superior to that of external boxes. The Shield is especially bad in this regard.

BiggussDikkuss

You will be lucky to get an honest answer in this Sub-Reddit especially if you are a demanding user that wants the best quality picture output from their media player to use on quality OLED TV.

The Shield is fine for those that have nothing else to compare it to, but for those that do like yourself, issues become readily apparent.

The Shield had a number of serious know problems, some of which are outlined in this thread. There is a whole list of them in the following Kodi thread:

https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=332180

Short answer - the Shield is not the platform you should be using if you want high quality upscaled SDR - or 4K HDR picture outputs with the correct looking colors, particularly when used with an OLED TV.

Poor hardware upscaling on the Shield affects ALL Apps displaying non 4K picture content when output using a hard selected Android system 4K Screen resolution.

niqen

I also noticed these things, just got my hands on Shield after reading so many good reviews and user experiences. Great value for your money, but still, 1080p menus, the lack of Dolby Vision and "minor" shortcomings might make some consider the Apple TV.

On my LG C8, every app looks crisp. I know it shouldn't make that huge of a difference, but in reality buying an expensive streaming device like the Shield and yet seeing issues like these, well it feels a bit off.

How hard could it be to do a proper upscaling? Or adapt Dolby Vision? For such a premium device, this shouldn't be an issue.

simiwood

Apple is the only box that has 4k across the board but do you really need 4k menus?