Just made the switch from the original Chromecast to Google TV and I'm struggling to get my ambient mode to work. So far it hasn't come on automatically, even after an hour + of inactivity. When I manually turn it on, it only seems to remain on an hour or so before the TV shows 'no device connected' until I hit a button on the remote and the home screen pops up. This is a huge deal breaker for me, since we love having the ambient mode on 24/7. Does it just not work the same? Back to my Chromecast?
Go to settings> system> power & energy & set "turn off display" to "never".
Also, have you "set up" the ambient mode? (What info will show up & what won't)