Recently, the “pills” unexpectedly dragged a non -fraction of the market near portable consoles. But there is one catch – the specificity of the game assortment of Google and Apple stores. The abundance of uncomplicated casual projects prevents the tablet of a full -fledged game platform.

And then nvidia entered the stage. She provided the developers with the service Tegrazone ( Shield Hub ) to optimize games for their Tegra chips, allowing you to issue a better picture than competitors. Unfortunately, the NVIDIA initiative was sluggishly, and only the TGRA rails were transferred from high -profile projects for the rails Half-Life 2 , Portal , Trine 2 And Z: Steel Soldiers.

But Nvidia did not bother at all, and in 2013 the company showed the world the fresh concept of Shield, a related idea of ​​stream services like Onlive, and the first purely gaming tablet based on it. In mid -July of this year, the second version of the tablet appeared on sale, called Shield Tablet , -We will study her.

The first acquaintance

Display: 8 inches (1920×1200), IPS, sensory * CPU: Nvidia tegra k1 (5 nuclei) * RAM: 2 GB * Graphics: Kepler * Built -in memory: 16/32 GB * Memory cards: Micro-SD * Connectors: Micro – USB, Micro-HDMI, 3.5 mm Jack, Micro-SIM (optional) * Wireless communication: Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.0, 2G/3G/LTE (optionally) * Cameras: 5 MP (main, autofocus), 5 MP (frontal) * Battery: 19.75 W/h * Dimensions: 22.1×12.6×0.9 cm * Weight: 390 g * Operating system: Android 4.4.2 * Price for September 2014: 13 990 rubles

Concept compared to Shield Console Changed, preferring a standard “pill” to the “lining”. In appearance, this is an ordinary black rectangle with sides 22 and 12 centimeters. The back plastic cover is covered in a pleasant, albeit praised software, and the front part is covered with glass and plastic designed for metal. Compared to the first version of the “tablet”, I felt better by almost 200 grams.

Governing bodies Shield Tablet Standard. On the right end there were "power" marked with a green point, and a volume swing. Immediately-a slot for micro-SD cards, and in versions with 32 GB of memory, there is also a connector for Micro-SIM with LTE support. All the main ports-Micro-USB, Micro-HDMI and a 3.5-mm jack for headsets-took their place on the upper side. In life, such a spread of elements is convenient. Buttons are easily to the touch, and the connected charging does not interfere with the work.

In plus ergonomics, we will write down common dimensions and display. Medium -sized male hand wrapps around the tablet without problems, and due to the tenacious Softtach confidently holds it in the chosen position. The screen, compared with the first shield, has increased by three inches, and now it is already normal IPS with a diagonal of 8 inches and with a computer ratio of parties 16:10 (1920×1200). Working with him is offered both with fingers and with the help of a complete stylus. It is hidden in the upper face of the case and is equipped with an interesting DabBler program, deftly simulating the behavior of watercolors and oils on canvas

But the speakers worsened. There are still two of them, and they stand on the front panel (now on the sides of the display), but they play a little quieter and gravitate towards the upper range. It will fit for films, and for dynamic games it is better to connect the headset.

In the case

But by ease of use Shield Tablet Nicer predecessors. Working with Android has become much easier – whatever one may say, but this OS is imprisoned under the fingers. Problems with purely sensory games have disappeared: everything always functions exactly as the developers are planned. What then is the meaning of the "game" orientation Shield Tablet? In corporate joystick.

It is now offered to the tablet as an accessory and costs about 3,000 rubles (if you order from abroad, about 2150 rubles will be released). In form and functions, it repeats the first shield seen in the first. The same buttons, the same location, only a few additional options were added. A volume swing appeared below, in the center, between the sticks, a touchpad stood up, and a microphone painted on top.

With a tablet, the controller communicates without wires, via Wi-Fi Direct at a frequency of 5 GHz. According to NVIDIA, it was done because the standard Bluetooth channel on which most tablet joysticks work, too slow for games, and the movements of the sticks are twitched. Wi-Fi capacity removes this problem.

Connect with Shield Tablet It is possible by the wire, the same method is suitable for all other tablets, as well as a PC. The latter defines the joystick as a standard Xbox 360 Controller and automatically puts the right drivers on it. In terms of quality, Shield Gamepad is not inferior to either Microsoft's native model or the top Razer Sabertooth, – the accuracy of work is prohibitive.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to attach a “pill” to the controller in any way, and somewhere in the subway you can’t play it so simply on it. Therefore, Tablet has a little different game scenarios.

We play

In the case of Android, you will either have to display a picture on a large display, or put a tablet on the table and play on your native. For the latter case, NVIDIA is advised to buy a magnetic case-process. It resembles the “coters” for the iPad, but is segmented so as to tightly fix the device in an upright position. The thing is comfortable, 1300 rubles for it are not sorry.

The same alignment with streaming with PC. It is unlikely that you can walk around the apartment, so for Shield Tablet we see two options. Or a compromise solution in case you can’t play in your usual place. Or replacement HTPC, allowing you to move without wires from a monitor on TV. There are no difficulties with the latest regime, but when connecting via Wi-Fi, the picture will be transmitted to 720p. To play in the full-fledged Full HD, the “tablet” must be connected to the network by LAN, and this requires an adapter with Micro-USB.

By the way, for lovers to broadcast their gaming successes on Twitch, developers have prepared a streaming function that can not only send, but also record a video from the screen.

Filling

Grieve that Shield Tablet – Not the end of the game piece of iron, not worth. Firstly, someone will probably come up with a wise cover that allows you to attach the screen to the joystick. Secondly, the tablet itself is an excellent representative of the new platform NVIDIA TEGRA K1.

Its processor base, like the Four, was scored by five ARM Cortex A15 nuclei operating on the principle of 4-Plus-1. The difference is only in the revision of the modules: the updated scheme eats a little less energy than that of the predecessor. But the graphic part in Tegra K1 is converted from scratch and amazes to the core.

IN Shield Tablet , Without jokes, packed the modern GeForce 600 based on Kepler architecture. Of course, not the top-end GTX Titan Black with 15 SMX and 2880 CUDA yaders, but just a half of the GTX 650, but this does not change the essence. The GeForce chip in the tablet is equipped with one SMX with 192 stream nuclei, eight textures and four rasterization engines. And all this at a frequency of 950 MHz. Great? Yes, not the right word, especially taking into account the drawn Shield Tablet Pictures.

Publicly available projects for Android for the platform have not yet calibrated, but there are already exclusives. TEGRA K1 was transferred to the rails Half-Life 2 And Trine 2 , And they look, by the standards of tablets, amazing. Clear textures, computer effects, excellent animation. According to Nvidia itself, the power of Tegra K1 approximately corresponds to the power of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and, judging by what we saw, it looks like the truth.

Will the graphics continue to develop in this direction? So far there are only two “tablets” on K1 – it is unlikely, but if Adreno suddenly tightens to the standards set by NVIDIA (and for this you need to add full support for Opengl), then the idea will shoot. In addition, NVIDIA states that the transfer of the project from a computer to the tablet does not take a lot of time. For example, on the demo Unreal Engine 4, shown on Google I/O, it took some month and a half.

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Even if things don't go uphill, Shield Tablet This will not hurt a lot, the “tablet” of Nvidia turned out to be wonderful. High -quality case, excellent screen, good ergonomics, complete stylus, the most powerful filling and many game capabilities today, which competitors do not have and are not expected. Price? For a version with 13 Playzee Casino GB – 13,990 rubles, for 32 GB plus LTE – 16,990 rubles. If you assemble a full set with a joystick and cover, add another 4300 rubles. By the standards of the market – very inexpensive.

The detailed material about what is generally the SHIELD NVIDIA developed, and read both consoles on its basis in the September issue of Gamery magazine .