TIL the Steam Deck isn’t doing the same thing as the Shield.

The steam link pucks could’ve been this the whole time.

I really hope they do…

I love my Nvidia Shield, but it’s definitely aging, and sometimes getting it to actually play 2160p Blu Ray remuxes without stuttering is a chore. Plus Dolby Vision does not even display properly due to “red push” issue, and Nvidia has no plans to fix (they have abandoned the device and the entire market segment).

Currently the only method to get a streaming box to actually display Dolby Vision properly (profile 7 FEL) involves installing Linux (CoreELEC), and I believe the only device with all the proper support (licensing, hardware, etc) is the Ugoos Am6b+.

I much prefer the Jellyfin android client to Kodi, so I’ve been sticking with the Shield for now. I’d love another Linux based competitor, and hopefully a more polished streaming box from Valve could spur some development of better clients and tools.

I am a bit nervous about Valve actually being able to get all the licensing in place to pull this off.

When I think about how many hours of my life I’ve wasted and how much room in my brain is dedicated to all these stupid modern formats…my hope is that a player like Valve entering the market could do some good work. We are in a very sorry state when it comes to compatibility.

Though again… While I don’t have a deep understanding of the issues, it seems like a large chunk of it revolves around licensing, and I don’t know how much of a dent Valve can make in that.

I’ve been waiting for a new shield to replace my Chromecasts for a long time.

I’d choose this one over it in a heartbeat. Hope it’s true.

It’ll primarily be a gaming device but if they did ever push to be a HTPC type box, Roku is more vulnerable than Google and Apple I think. I’d love to see HTPCs get another shot at the living room and get app support from the popular streaming services