‘Tandem Playback’ to several clients

Feature Suggestions
21

+1
I’m playing with doing this using a fork of vlc, but it would make more sense for me to use it within plex. Seems like with the casting that can occur using multicast wifi, and the fact that each instance of plex can be its own server, my 3 kids’ tablets could watch the same movie while in the car together.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

22

Just a short update to give visibility to the consolidation of 3 requests into this now updated request.

I am arranging for all the Likes to get moved here to the first post of this thread. They are coming along fast !

Thanks to everyone who helped making this a request for a brilliant feature request that I hope everyone will want to have !

23

+1

i really like this idea

1 Like
24

Just cant wait for this feature, and retire the squeezeboxes.

25

Just cant wait for this feature, and retire the squeezeboxes.

Make sure you hit the like button on the OP :)

https://forums.plex.tv/topic/46128-rules-for-this-forum-inc-how-to-vote/

1 Like
26

When is this going to be a reality?

27

I was thinking about this today and I really would love to have it.

28

A  chat feature or VOIP audio channel to talk about the movie being watched simultaneously would be cool, too. And while we're at it, an API for a popcorn machine to control remotely and a beer fetcher would be nice as well.  :D

29

Now that all three tvs have chromecast having multicasting would be a godsend

30

Would be very cool to be able to cast to both all chromecasts simultaneously (and in sync!) so that I can go from room to room and enjoy my music :)

31

Late to the party, but I'd like to add that it would be nice if you could select different audio tracks for different devices (obviously would take more bandwidth than a normal multicast).

Reason being that my wife is Colombian and with all our movies ripped with both audio tracks, it'd be nice to let one of us use a bluetooth headset with a phone/tablet to get a second language while watching a movie.

Of course this would be even handier if PHT could output multiple tracks to multiple audio devices on the same system, but I suspect that would be much more difficult to implement and have many fewer use-cases.

32

On an unrelated note sferran2, ever watch the TV Show Modern Family... So instantly picture Jay then after your post lol...

33

On an unrelated note sferran2, ever watch the TV Show Modern Family... So instantly picture Jay then after your post lol...

Absolutely, love that show! And the wife is a big fan of Sofia Vergara (although both of us are much younger than the characters)

34

Hi Guys,

Since this feature has grown in demand, and since we've spotted three different requests with very similar requirements, we are consolidating the three posts into this one. Here is the current feature requirements as we see it now.

Tandem Play Feature Requirements
 
The objective is to have multiple different devices playing the same content at the same time. Tandem/Sync'd playback should be able to be started either from a centralized GUI (the Server Web GUI) or from the individual clients, which should be able to “see” currently playing content and join the stream. Consideration should be made to restrict the control (play, pause, forward, etc) to specific nominated client(s).   Played content SHOULD work even when devices have different codec requirements. If this becomes too complex, it is acceptable that an initial version works only with "Direct Play" enabled devices. Sync'd content It MUST work with different types of devices (samsung TVs / Roku's and Ipads playing same stream, for instance). Tandem Play should be made available for all media types covering video, music, photo slideshow and slideshow with music.
 
When content is playing in the local network, the objective is to maintain very synchronized playback. To the point where audio streaming from multiple devices sound in sync and video being watched in one device while audio comes from a different device does not display lip-sync issues. Ideally, this should also be done via Multicast in order to alleviate the bandwidth issues on the W-fi network which will undoubtedly arise.
 
 
Thanks to SA2000, te5s3akt, and for all that have contributed to define this feature. Cheers!

I just started using plex a week ago and this feature would make this software perfect for me. I would use this constantly.

35

Can't wait for this feature to get prioritized. Tandem, sync'd playback would make a lifetime PlexPass membership a no-brainer.

36

We are still below 100 likes and not made it to the Most Liked Posts view - here https://forums.plex.tv/best-content/

Not that it guarantees implementation but would get more visibility if we make it to that web page

37

+1

Plex is already amazing, but this feature would really make it the complete package.

I have a chromecast and would love to be able to play synchronized music throughout my apartment - who needs to spend hundreds of dollars on a Sonos set up when you've already got a bunch of smart wireless devices running Plex?

Please get this implemented!

38

+1

I could see many uses for this feature

39

Now that all three tvs have chromecast having multicasting would be a godsend

+1

I could see many uses for this feature

You will need to click the green 'Like This' button on the first post to add your support.

The '+1's and comments are not used when the Plex Team assess how popular a feature request is

40

Would love to see this feature: Plex is growing in to a way for us to connect with people through our video libraries, and being able to watch something collectively is a great natural progression.

One thing for people to consider when thinking about the difficulty with syncing local and remote viewers: it's easy to get a quick mental block by thinking that there has to be a straight line between pressing play, having it encode, and the viewers watching that encoded stream.

In actual fact, if there's a delay of even 10 seconds between the server and a remote client, the underlying technology supports transcoding then sending to the remote viewer, then sending the local viewer content that was transcoded 10 seconds ago, and the same frames would arrive on both screens at the same time (or at least very close).

Also; at least some of the viewers currently send back regular reports about where they are in the video, which means the server can decide how much to adjust on the fly.

Personally, I wouldn't mind the following note:
Known issue: there may be some stuttering when the server recognizes that the Tandem Playback is out of sync and corrects it.
*There is no reason to hide this stutter, smooth it out, or pretend it's not happening - we can be grown-up about it.