Hue light sync for
Jellyfin, games and apps.
Free, open source Windows software that lights your Philips Hue entertainment area from what is playing: any Jellyfin client, plus browsers, video players and games on your PC. Powered by the official Hue Sync app.
- MIT licence
- 100% Free forever
The TV plays the film; Hue Ghost plays a muted twin on a spare display, and Hue Sync lights the room from that. The film is Sintel, © Blender Foundation, durian.blender.org, CC BY 3.0.
A muted twin does the watching. Your TV keeps its own picture.
The official Hue Sync app turns a screen into light. Hue Ghost plays a muted copy of your film on a spare display, in step with the TV, and starts and stops the sync for you.
One list of everything that can light the room. Top of the list wins.
TVs, phones, browsers and games. Each source keeps its own mode, intensity and entertainment area, so you set it up once and press play. Try the list below.
Press play on any source to hand it the entertainment area.
- A Jellyfin client (TV, Apple TV, mobile phone): the ghost mirrors the picture on a spare display for Hue Sync. Phones are told apart by app and user, and any source can be renamed.
- An app or game on this PC: Hue Sync captures the screen directly. Quick add covers any game, browsers (YouTube, Netflix, Disney+), VLC, Kodi, Plex, Spotify and games streamed with Sunshine and Moonlight. Count it as playing by sound, fullscreen or either.
- Jellyfin music: the ghost plays the sound to a spare audio output and Hue Sync listens in music mode. The lights stop 15 seconds after a pause.
Built to run on its own.
Everything except the sync offset is automatic.
Movie mode for Home Assistant, through Hue Synco.
Point Hue Synco at Hue Ghost to get a movie mode switch, per-source switches and a dashboard card. Movie mode takes the entertainment area from music sync, and music sync takes it back.
The real Hue Ghost card, running on this page against a stand-in Home Assistant that follows the sources above. Switch a source off here and it is off in the list too.
One bridge, shared.
- A Global sync light that is the master switch, with brightness as the level Hue Sync runs the area at
- Mode and intensity selects that apply mid-film
- A switch per source, named for the source, to follow it or ignore it for a while
- The sync offset as a number, so you can tune it from a wall tablet
- Status, area, active source and now-playing sensors for your own automations
Ideas: movie mode on at sunset, off at bedtime. Dim the other lights while the status reads syncing. Key an automation to the room the sync actually landed in.
About Hue Synco →| light.hue_ghost_global_sync | On/off is movie mode; brightness is the area's level |
| sensor.hue_ghost_sync_status | offline, disabled, idle, ghosting or syncing, with drift and now playing |
| sensor.hue_ghost_sync_area | The entertainment area in use |
| sensor.hue_ghost_active_source | Which followed source is driving the lights |
| select.hue_ghost_mode | Video, music or games |
| select.hue_ghost_intensity | Subtle, moderate, high or extreme |
| switch.hue_ghost_<source> | One per source: follow it, or ignore it |
| number.hue_ghost_sync_offset | The lead in seconds, live |
POST /on, /off, /set and GET /status, with a token you generate.
What you need, then five minutes.
The installer includes the ghost player and an optional virtual display. The app walks you through the rest.
The PC
- Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit
- Left on while you watch, with the PC's sleep timeout off
- A GPU that decodes your files (4K HEVC or AV1 needs a recent one)
- For TV sync, a virtual display (included, signed driver) or an HDMI dummy plug
The rest of the house
- A Hue Bridge v2, the square one, with an entertainment area
- The official Hue Sync desktop app, free, paired to your bridge
- For TV sync, Jellyfin 10.9 or newer and any Jellyfin client on the TV
- For PC apps and games, just the PC, the bridge and Hue Sync
Setting it up
- Sources: your Jellyfin address and an API key, then pick the TV while it plays
- Display: choose the ghost display and check it with the test pattern
- Hue Sync: allow public control, capture the ghost display, pick the area
- Home: press play on the TV and watch idle, then ghost playing, then syncing
What to expect, from day one.
Open any of them.
Timing within about 0.2 s accuracy
Lights follow the picture within about 0.1 to 0.2 s, and seeks within about a second plus the TV's own buffering. That suits bias and mood lighting. Time lock tightens it further: in an offline replay of 15 minutes of recorded Apple TV sessions, with five seeks, it cut the mean timing error from 0.20 s to 0.02 s.
One streamer per entertainment area a bridge rule
If the Hue app, Hue Synco music sync or a Sync Box is already streaming to the area, stop it first so Hue Sync can start. The Hue Synco integration does that hand-over for you.
Windows today, macOS from source platforms
Hue Ghost drives the official Hue Sync app, which runs on Windows and macOS. The installer is for Windows, and macOS runs from source.
Keep the PC awake and unlocked capture needs a screen
Hue Sync captures what is on a display. Hue Ghost keeps its displays awake while a film plays and shows a note on the Home page if the PC is locked.
Things people ask before they install.
What does it replace?+
The Sync Box's job for Jellyfin and PC sources: a PC you already own, the free Hue Sync desktop app and your Jellyfin server. Your TV stays connected to its source as usual.
How does the TV picture stay intact?+
The TV plays its own stream, so HDR, 4K and Dolby Vision work as usual. The ghost plays the original file on the PC, so the TV's stream is unaffected.
What can it follow?+
Jellyfin on any client, plus anything on the PC: games from any store, Sunshine and Moonlight streams, YouTube, Netflix and Disney+ in a browser, VLC, Kodi, Plex and Spotify.
Where does it run?+
On your own network. Hue Ghost talks to your Jellyfin server and to the Hue Sync app on the same PC, and its control API starts when you switch it on and generate a token.
Is it free?+
Yes. Hue Ghost is free and open source under the MIT licence: read it, change it, build on it.
Press play on the couch. The room does the rest.
Hue Ghost lights films and games. Hue Synco lights music from Home Assistant, and CAMusic from your Android device.
Hue is a trademark of Signify Holding B.V. Hue Ghost is an independent project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Signify or Jellyfin.