NVIDIA SHIELD Plex Server brings more options to your home server

Some time ago, we included the NVIDIA SHIELD TV in our list for the 5 best Plex clients available on the market. It is a very versatile and powerful device and, until now, it kinda felt out of place in this list, because its hardware is more powerful than the average Plex client. However, a new software update to the SHIELD TV device that's scheduled a couple weeks from now, will propel this media player to the category of home server. The NVIDIA SHIELD Plex Server app will be included in a firmware upgrade and will turn the NVIDIA SHIELD TV in the first smart TV device to support Plex functionality in an easy and user-friendly way, combining the ease of use of a Plex player with the power of a Plex server. [Read: NVIDIA SHIELD TV: An amazing option for your media center]

What's new in the NVIDIA SHIELD Plex Server app?

The new Plex media server app will be specially useful with the NVIDIA SHIELD PRO, because of its 500 GB of storage, making it almost unnecessary to connect an external storage device to it. The experience provided will be seamless, thanks to features such as hardware-accelerated 1080p transcoding, giving users of the NVIDIA SHIELD Plex Server app a great media experience. You can also connect external storage to your SHIELD device via its USB Ports, even your NAS (if you have one). This makes the SHIELD Plex Media Server app a very promising addition to this device. [Read: Guide: How to install Plex Android client app]

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If you are looking to set up a Plex home server, and want to get a Plex client device as well, perhaps you can save a few bucks by combining those in a single purchase. The fact that the NVIDIA SHIELD also doubles as a gaming machine, seems to make it more of an attractive investment with this update. If you already own a Plex server, you might want to know how to install Plex Web Tools 2.0 or turn your server into a music device with channels such as SoundCloud for Plex. Stay tuned for more tutorials and news on this amazing app!

Via: NVIDIA SHIELD Blog