The Nvidia Shield TV supports Dolby Atmos as well as Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, and Dolby TrueHD. It also supports various DTS audio codecs. You must use HDMI in order to get Dolby Atmos from the Nvidia Shield TV to a soundbar or A/V receiver. In this article, we will review the different ways to connect the Nvidia Shield to your AV receiver or soundbar and TV to get Dolby Atmos sound. The configurations will partly depend on whether your devices and media support Dolby Digital Plus or Dolby TrueHD.
What Is Dolby Atmos?
Dolby Atmos is the most popular audio format from Dolby, offering 3D surround sound effects similar to those found in huge cinemas. The technology includes an additional height channel in order to provide a unique enveloping experience to users.
Can the Nvidia Shield Play Dolby Atmos?
However, you might find it challenging to get these various devices to work correctly. If so, be sure to check the following settings:
Check if the other devices connected to the Nvidia Shield support Dolby Atmos audio. Check the manuals for your receiver and TV to find out if they can decode the Atmos streams.
Don’t forget to update your receiver or soundbar to its latest firmware. Doing so will resolve any issues pertaining to audio or video incompatibility.
Contact the Nvidia Shield support team for assistance if the problem persists.
How to Make Sure Dolby Atmos is Working with an Nvidia Shield TV
Configuring the surround sound setup on a Shield TV is a cakewalk with the right set of devices. There are two different ways to connect these devices. Both the soundbar or AV receiver and speaker setup will need to support Dolby Atmos in order to actually get Atmos audio.
Option 1: Connect the Shield TV to an HDMI Input on the AV Receiver or Soundbar
This is the preferred option for the highest quality audio when using any media streaming device.
Option 2: Connect Shield TV to the TV and Use HDMI ARC to Send Audio
If you’d prefer to connect the Shield TV streamer directly to your TV, that’s no problem at all, but there are a few things you need to check. First, you need to make sure your TV has HDMI ARC. Second, you need to ensure that the HDMI ARC port on your TV can actually passthrough Dolby Digital Plus audio. The Dolby Digital Plus audio codec is a lossy audio stream that can contain Dolby Atmos metadata. Not all HDMI ARC ports will be able to send this audio codec though. But, if you have an HDMI eARC port then there’s no need to worry at all. Once you’ve verified that your TV has an HDMI ARC port that can passthrough Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Atmos or that your TV has an HDMI eARC port, follow the below instruction to get everything configured properly:
