Playing the same thing on multiple extenders . . .

[JeffDerek]

Is there any way to play the same show/file on multiple HD200s at the same time, in sync, if it's not live TV?

J

[GKusnick]

No, there's no provision for synchronized playback across multiple clients (not even for live TV). Each client has an independent playback stream with independent FF/RW/pause controls. So even if you managed to get them roughly synched, all it takes is one click of the remote to de-sync them again.

[bigo93bronco]

May not be easy or econmical to include, but I for one really wish it could do this. If you want whole house audio/video you need sage+ something else right now.

[omega]

I'll second that. Playback synchronization is one of the few things I consider to be seriously lacking from SageTV.

[Fuzzy]

What situation are you guys envisioning needing synchronized audio/video? I guess I've just never figured this out, especially to the point of considering sage incomplete because it can't do this. Even most STB's won't be synchronized across a house, even if they are the exact same model.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

What situation are you guys envisioning needing synchronized audio/video?

If you want to play the same music in several rooms at once, you really need good sync between rooms so that the rhythm remains consistent as you walk from room to room. This is especially true if you have an open-plan house where (for instance) kitchen speakers can be heard from the living room and vice versa.

The way I achieve this in my setup is by feeding the SageTV output into a crossbar switch and distro amp that can send the same AV source to more than one set of screens and speakers. So I don't have to worry about perfect sync between Sage clients; if I want the same thing playing on more than one screen, I switch those screens to feed from the same client.

[Fuzzy]

eh, I suppose. I guess my house is either small enough that it doens't matter, or I don't wander around all that much. To me, and open plan seems like it would actually need this LESS. We are almost always in the same 'space' in out house (living room, kids play area, kitchen, dining room, are all pretty much in the vicinity of the main entertainment system, so we don't have any reason to have multiple sets of speakers.

[sic0048]

I'm not aware of any device or software player that will synch multiple playback devices. There are lots of ways to take the output from Sage (or any other A/V device) and distribute that to more than one TV or set of speakers. But as noted, that requires Sage + something else.

If you want a whole house A/V distribution system, then that is what you should look at. I have one and it is really nice, so I definitely see the attraction.

[stanger89]

Squeezebox allows synced music across any number of their boxes. I think Sonos can as well. And IMO, both are superior to Sage in every way for music, but most importantly in form factor (no need for the TV to be on), so IMO it's not a big deal Sage doesn't match them.

[exdirtfarmer]

Syncing of streams over IP is VERY difficult. There are only a handful of audio products that can do this. Squeezebox products can sync as many zones as bandwidth will allow. The SONOS multizone audio appliance is very efficient at accomplishing syned audio to multiple zones.

Can anybody think of a fully synced, IP based, multizone Video product??

I am pretty sure there are companies with very deep pockets that have tried, but the fact that there are so few apparent solutions just shows how difficult it is.

Can anybody spare a few million for R&D and risk coming up short?

[sic0048]

I had forgotten that Sonos and Squeezebox had that ability on the audio side.

We use a HD matrix switcher and have the Sage extenders as sources (as well as other devices) to distribute video around the house. It is nice to have the same source showing on multiple screens for stuff like the Super Bowl party, etc. We also have a slide show going of the years events during our annual Christmas party. But for normal use, one TV is usually enough. We also have a whole house a/v system (a B&K CT600) to distribute audio throughout the house. We end up listening to multiple zones much more often with audio than with the video, but again usually when we are entertaining guests.

[CollinR]

One thing you can try is put an MVP on an extra analog encoder port and map that as a custom channel. Then you can put any client on that channel and jump to the front of the buffer, dunno how close to in sync it would be though as it's not the intended purpose. Also it would make the GUI rather confusing unless you built a custom STV for that MVP. I guess you can try it with cable boxes and see how close to in sync you can get.

[xred]

I've asked this before but why could they not have a method of putting the extenders in to a "slave mode" and having the server send out the content in a streamed format?

This would be SUPER handy for using Sage as a distributed AV system that could be controlled from a web page. So for example:

- Go to servers webpage (NielM's web UI or ideally an official Sage created WebUI)
- Click a button to put all extenders in to slave mode.
- Play content on server and its automatically streamed through connected clients.

As it stands now I am planning to do this by hooking the server or an old MVP extender I have in to my ancient intercom system and then admin'ing it from a mobile devices / laptops / computers around the house. Its probably a bit ghetto but it should work.

[briands]

Originally Posted by sic0048

I had forgotten that Sonos and Squeezebox had that ability on the audio side.

We use a HD matrix switcher and have the Sage extenders as sources (as well as other devices) to distribute video around the house. It is nice to have the same source showing on multiple screens for stuff like the Super Bowl party, etc. We also have a slide show going of the years events during our annual Christmas party. But for normal use, one TV is usually enough. We also have a whole house a/v system (a B&K CT600) to distribute audio throughout the house. We end up listening to multiple zones much more often with audio than with the video, but again usually when we are entertaining guests.

Even with an HD matrix device, the display devices have to decode/process the signal. I would guess even that could lead to a significant sinc issue. I guess that would likely be a constant delta that could be configured out though.

[sic0048]

Originally Posted by briands

Even with an HD matrix device, the display devices have to decode/process the signal. I would guess even that could lead to a significant sinc issue. I guess that would likely be a constant delta that could be configured out though.

While that may be true, you are only talking minisecond differences I would think as I believe the only difference would be the displays response time. So if one display had a 6ms response time and another display had an 8ms response time, there is a 2ms difference. In real life, this isn't really noticable. The displays are being feed a RCA line level video signal, so they are not trying to process an ATSC or QAM signal might vary more from set to set.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by sic0048

While that may be true, you are only talking minisecond differences I would think as I believe the only difference would be the displays response time.

My parents have a CRT HDTV (RPTV) and a new LCD in adjacent rooms, even tuning identical channels they're a large enough difference between them to create a very annoying echo effect.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by stanger89

My parents have a CRT HDTV (RPTV) and a new LCD in adjacent rooms, even tuning identical channels they're a large enough difference between them to create a very annoying echo effect.

But there you're comparing the whole tuner/decoder/renderer pipeline. The point of using a matrix switch is to drive everything from a single tuner/decoder, so the only variable left is the renderer, and the delays there should be negligible.

[eric3a]

That's the main reason I have a ZvBox feeding all the Tvs in my house.
When we sit down and stay in a room, we'll use the local HD200.
But if we want to be able to move around the house, or each watch the same thing from different rooms so we can share the experience, then we use the ZvBox.

Eric

[inskeepp]

I would love some sort of synchronized play. I constantly move from room to room in the morning when getting ready for work, cleaning or doing laundry.
I'd be happy if they were even within a few seconds of each other and if I paused/rev/ff on one they would all respond in a similar way.

[ryanroat]

Originally Posted by eric3a

That's the main reason I have a ZvBox feeding all the Tvs in my house.
When we sit down and stay in a room, we'll use the local HD200.
But if we want to be able to move around the house, or each watch the same thing from different rooms so we can share the experience, then we use the ZvBox.

Eric

ooh, can you describe your ZVBox setup in more detail? Input devices, connection method, etc.

I was very intrigued by that product when it came out, more for its QAM modulator potential than its interface.