My experience with the infamous Shield Tablet... Also a question for other owners.

[bryctucker]

I bought this thing first off of Amazon, and it was backordered... So I canceled and ordered from Newegg. Fine, i have to pay for shipping, and wait longer, but whatever.

I get the tablet, so excited, and i notice first that the screen would switch orientation when it shouldn't have. Like if i have it in landscape, then lay it flat on it's back, it would go into portrait. This could be recreated every time, so it wasn't just a fluke. I installed Asphalt 8 Airbourn and tried to play. I held the tablet flat, then all of a sudden when the car took off, it took a sharp right and ran straight into a wall.

Great... the accelerometer is broke. Also i can see the backlight flickering a little bit.

I request an RMA from Newegg and they said it'd take probably about a week to get it back. Get it processed, about to go take it back and check their site to see if it's in stock still and it's sold out. I get on their chat to make sure and they said it's backordered, so i'd have to wait for it to come in or switch it to a refund. So i switched it to a refund and by that time, Microcenter in my area had them in stock so i dropped by and picked one up.

Go it home and it was acting fine, until i installed Asphalt again and then it ran the car into the wall again... Also, again, i can see the backlight flickering. Starting to get depressed, i contact Nvidia asking if this is a common problem and then they said it was the first they'd heard of it. They tried Riptide GP2 and said it worked fine on their test tablet. So i bought Riptide GP2 with my Google Opinion Rewards and tried it, the little water craft ran straight into the wall, just like the first tablet. They told me to try exchanging it again, and that they were sorry that i was having trouble.

I go back to microcenter, demonstrate what is happening, they give me a new tablet and tell me to install the game and test to see if this one does it before i leave with it. Their wifi was being crappy, so they gave me a USB Ethernet adapter and an OTG cable to connect to their Internet (it worked instantly, freaking awesome.)

Install updates, install app updates, install the game, it works... Finally have one that the Accelerometer works... I leave and go home, and the screen still flickers on this one too.... So thats the question part of this post, does anyone else have this tablet and notice the backlight flickering? It happens more often on darker brightness settings.

Other than the problems trying to get a working tablet, and the screen flickering, i love this tablet. The screen is really sensitive though, so when you're holding it and trying to hit edge of the screen, and you're barely touching somewhere else, it'll usually give you a hard time. The stylus is awesome, the screen can be very bright and easy to see out in the sun. The 1080p is a noticeable different over my 2013 N7 ( i can see the pixels in this tablet, i have very sensitive eyes and the ability to see very fine details) but it's still a great screen. the battery life at least for me is not as good as the 2013 N7, however it does make it through the day.

anyways... TL;DR: Love this tablet, had a pain in the ass of a time getting one that worked though. Also, does anyone notice the screen's backlight flickering like i do?

 

[Turbo Brian]

is it a continuous flicker or is it just slight changes in brightness when the screen content changes? there is a known "feature" called prism that does some kind of auto/dynamic brightness/contrast adjustment depending on whats showing on screen. there's a thread over at geforce.com about it. apparently it was introduced in a prior update on the other shield devices too so im hopeful its fixed. if its a true flicker and not just brightness changes, then its either defective or the backlight is pwm and you can see it. some people are sensitive to pwn backlights on regular computer monitors and can see the flicker. google pwm backlight if you're unfamiliar with the phenomenon.

 

[bryctucker]

It happens when the screen content changes, and i figured it'd be some kind of dynamic change.

it also happens when the screen has the content on screen constant. It's sort of like a pulse, sometimes it also gets bad for a split second. I don't really know how to explain it. it will be pulsing, then it will have a bad flicker then go back to pulsing. It gets worse the darker you make the brightness, and also when you turn on autobrightness (although im sure this makes it worse because it's trying to adjust the brightness in dark light).

I looked up the pwm backlight and it looks like it's mostly with LED backlights. Thats my guess of the backlight on this tablet. That makes sense though, because i can see a VERY VERY slight pluse on my work's Macbook Pro, and a slight pluse on my Nexus 5 too. I suppose that this might be the case.

I just don't see it being a defect because i've had three of them, from two different vendors and they've all done the exact same thing with the backlight.

 

[Linuxslate]

I haven't noticed any screen flicker.

I am also comparing this forum with the N7 (2013) forum when it first came out.

Lots of people there seemed to have troubles getting a good one -- light leaks, touch screen issues (there were several firmware updates for this), dead pixels, etc.

At least so far, there seems to be fewer people (per captia) complaining here.

Speaking of touchscreen issues, I did notice something about my Shield Tablet...

I was using it in the evening, while connected to a charger. I suddenly had a terrible time typing. I had just installed Thumb Keyboard, so I thought that was the problem. Went back to the Google Keyboard. Still had trouble. Scrolling web pages was also slow/erratic. Reboot -- same thing.

The next day I took it to work -- lots of email, including lots of typing.. general usage, etc. --- all with no problem. Back at home in the evening, some games, Google+ (typing) -- no problem.

Later on I was surfing eBay, and again I could not type or scroll without a lot of problems.

I turned on Settings --> Developer options --> Show touches and --> Pointer location.

With my finger steady on the screen, it was showing lots of erratic movement, particularly in the vertical axis. Several mm of vertical error, and about 1mm horizontal. Sometimes clearly below the entire area my finger covered.

Then I realized that both times it happened I was connected to the charger (Travel Surge protector with 2 -- 2.1A(shared) USB outlets).

I disconnected the charger, and the problem went away.

Connected the charger, and after a few seconds, the problem returned.

I was using the included cable, and another 2.1A rated charger.

I changed to a different 2.1A rated charger, and did not have the problem.

Different cable, 1st charger -- No problem.

The problem is reproducible (although not always) only with the 2.1A travel surge protector, and the included NVidia cable.

I noticed that this thing will charge at nearly 2A. The included cable is quite long (as compared to the other cables I have laying around), but is not thinker. In fact it is thinner than other USB cables.

It's really too small a wire guage to run almost 2A for that length.

It is marked with the Shield symbol (Like the controller or the Shield Portable), and came wrapped in a thing that said "Use with", and the Shield controller symbol.

Was the wrong cable in my box?

How are other peoples cables marked?

Has anyone else noticed an erratic touch screen if you use it while charging?

 

[pencil316]

Mine is marked the same as yours. I just notice the screen keeps poping on while it is charging for no reason.


Tapatalk

 

[bryctucker]

I haven't noticed any screen flicker.

I am also comparing this forum with the N7 (2013) forum when it first came out.

Lots of people there seemed to have troubles getting a good one -- light leaks, touch screen issues (there were several firmware updates for this), dead pixels, etc.

At least so far, there seems to be fewer people (per captia) complaining here.

Speaking of touchscreen issues, I did notice something about my Shield Tablet...

I was using it in the evening, while connected to a charger. I suddenly had a terrible time typing. I had just installed Thumb Keyboard, so I thought that was the problem. Went back to the Google Keyboard. Still had trouble. Scrolling web pages was also slow/erratic. Reboot -- same thing.

The next day I took it to work -- lots of email, including lots of typing.. general usage, etc. --- all with no problem. Back at home in the evening, some games, Google+ (typing) -- no problem.

Later on I was surfing eBay, and again I could not type or scroll without a lot of problems.

I turned on Settings --> Developer options --> Show touches and --> Pointer location.

With my finger steady on the screen, it was showing lots of erratic movement, particularly in the vertical axis. Several mm of vertical error, and about 1mm horizontal. Sometimes clearly below the entire area my finger covered.

Then I realized that both times it happened I was connected to the charger (Travel Surge protector with 2 -- 2.1A(shared) USB outlets).

I disconnected the charger, and the problem went away.

Connected the charger, and after a few seconds, the problem returned.

I was using the included cable, and another 2.1A rated charger.

I changed to a different 2.1A rated charger, and did not have the problem.

Different cable, 1st charger -- No problem.

The problem is reproducible (although not always) only with the 2.1A travel surge protector, and the included NVidia cable.

I noticed that this thing will charge at nearly 2A. The included cable is quite long (as compared to the other cables I have laying around), but is not thinker. In fact it is thinner than other USB cables.

It's really too small a wire guage to run almost 2A for that length.

It is marked with the Shield symbol (Like the controller or the Shield Portable), and came wrapped in a thing that said "Use with", and the Shield controller symbol.

Was the wrong cable in my box?

How are other peoples cables marked?

Has anyone else noticed an erratic touch screen if you use it while charging?

Yeah, there are a lot of devices that will freak out when you're using different chargers. I was going to tell you to go back to the Nvidia cable and charger that were included with the device to see if that fixes it, but it looks like you've found out that the charger was the issue.

I'm still unable to tell if it's the PWM Backlighting method that was brought up earlier or not. I can't get anyone else to see it though, and after three devices, i'm starting to feel like it's something that is normal.

 

[bluejay2345]

Mine is marked the same as yours. I just notice the screen keeps poping on while it is charging for no reason.


Tapatalk

Same thing happens with mine. While charging the screen will frequently come back on and then go off again in a few seconds. I haven't noticed the behavior when it's not charging. It's almost like something is running in the background causing it to wake up when charging.

 

[Raptor5150]

Same thing happens with mine. While charging the screen will frequently come back on and then go off again in a few seconds. I haven't noticed the behavior when it's not charging. It's almost like something is running in the background causing it to wake up when charging.

Check if your bluetooth is on... Mine only does this when I leave my bluetooth controller connected.

 

[pencil316]

No blue tooth is off

Tapatalk

 

[Keithn]

I've noticed it slightly in low brightness but not as bad as the Tegra3 based N7 and TF700t. I'm guessing it has to do with prism if that's the case.

Sent from my SHIELD Tablet

 

[Eat it iPhone]

Screen "Flicker" is the auto brightness, try changing to a manual brightness. I have noticed the orientation is very sensitive, sometimes when sitting down or moving a bit it will flip orientation on me, seems overly sensitive, whereas ive used other tablets that were not sensitive enough. Sounds like you may have had a few bad ones but the screen "issue" seems to be common, the light sensor seems to be overly sensitive (assuming changing to manual brightness resolves your case).

 

[falconw13]

Screen "Flicker" is the auto brightness, try changing to a manual brightness. I have noticed the orientation is very sensitive, sometimes when sitting down or moving a bit it will flip orientation on me, seems overly sensitive, whereas ive used other tablets that were not sensitive enough. Sounds like you may have had a few bad ones but the screen "issue" seems to be common, the light sensor seems to be overly sensitive (assuming changing to manual brightness resolves your case).

I haven't noticed any type of flickering on my TN7 or my new shield tablet. This could partially be because most of the time i have the brightness setting to manual. Its seems as when i have it on auto the screen is just a little too dim for me. Although, when using the tablet outside i usually have it on auto and the screen chooses the correct brightness so it can be best viewed.

 

[Linuxslate]

As I mentioned, I haven't seen anything I would call a "flicker", but I am glad someone mentioned the auto brightness.

To me, the auto brightness seems a bit "hyper" -- too much gain.

A slight change in orientation to or away from room lighting causes a drastic change in screen brightness.

The same for a shadow from my thumb if I hold the tablet in landscape.

I guess it could cause a flicker, but it depends on the context of timing --- Kinda like "the dinosaurs died out quickly", vs. "the quark decayed quickly".

Also I want it to be clear that I am not complaining about my Shield Tablet. It's just that xda-forums are a place where things are discussed in minute detail. It is not a problem, issue or complaint.

I have no interest at all in using my Nexus 7 (2013) (or any other Tablet) since I got my Shield Tablet.

 

[rushless]

The weak wifi appears to be the priority focus Nvidia is now giving the tablet. Question is will they go into denial mode like Asus did with the T700, or address early and revise the design IF needed. Sales were badly impacted for the T700 and a high return rate, per Best Buy.

Hopefully a simple firmware fix, but weak wifi is almost always antenna related for devices like this.

 

[bryctucker]

The weak wifi appears to be the priority focus Nvidia is now giving the tablet. Question is will they go into denial mode like Asus did with the T700, or address early and revise the design IF needed. Sales were badly impacted for the T700 and a high return rate, per Best Buy.

Hopefully a simple firmware fix, but weak wifi is almost always antenna related for devices like this.

I don't think any of the shield tablets I've used so far have had Wi-Fi problems.

 

[markymark567]

I have a similar issue. Check it out here:
Shield tablet screen defect: http://youtu.be/PUP_zAgpbxs
I have been on and off the phone with Nvidia trying to get them to ship me a new one for free. They refuse and I refuse to pay more shipping charges just to get a working device. Great tab otherwise. Just was unlucky and Nvidia has terrible customer service. I'm just returning it

 

[bryctucker]

I have a similar issue. Check it out here:
Shield tablet screen defect: http://youtu.be/PUP_zAgpbxs
I have been on and off the phone with Nvidia trying to get them to ship me a new one for free. They refuse and I refuse to pay more shipping charges just to get a working device. Great tab otherwise. Just was unlucky and Nvidia has terrible customer service. I'm just returning it

Man, I'm glad I don't have that issue. That looks like some sort of video driver.

 

[markymark567]

Man, I'm glad I don't have that issue. That looks like some sort of video driver.

Tell me about it. Its been like that since I first turned the tab on 3 days ago. Nvidia refuses to acknowledge my issue and insists I pay return shipping and a restocking fee. I don't understand why I should pay more than every other customer just to get a properly working device. Nvidia has pushed me away from sticking with this tablet.

 

[Techguy18]

The flickering when the content changes is probably Nvidia's PRISM at work. Basically, it tries to optimize brightness and colour so that power usage is reduced.
Instead of maxing the backlight and telling the pixels to display dark grey, it dims the backlight and tells the pixels to display light grey, saving power.

It is an advanced form of autobrightness, and I think it can be disabled. But a continuous flickering should not be caused by this. This should happen only when the screen is refreshed.. like new page or picture

---------- Post added at 08:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:29 PM ----------

I have a similar issue. Check it out here:
Shield tablet screen defect: http://youtu.be/PUP_zAgpbxs
I have been on and off the phone with Nvidia trying to get them to ship me a new one for free. They refuse and I refuse to pay more shipping charges just to get a working device. Great tab otherwise. Just was unlucky and Nvidia has terrible customer service. I'm just returning it

That IS a probelm.. for some reason the bottom is getting clipped and being sent to the top.. send them a picture.

 

[vimjam]

I don't have the flickering problem either...but the tablet used to wake up constantly when charging ...but after I did a factory reset everything is fine now .... My only complain is the poor WiFi performance