Plex, the popular media server and streaming app, announced an Auto-Sync feature today. It should fix subtitles that are slightly out of sync with the movie or show you’re watching.
Plex explained in a blog post, “Auto-Sync subtitles is a feature that matches up the audio with the subtitles, so the subtitles appear at the correct moment.” It’s an interplay between the Plex server, which runs an algorithm that detects voices in the audio, and the local Plex player that renders the subtitle. The feature currently supports external SRT subtitle files and subtitles that Plex downloads on demand from OpenSubtitles.com. Plex notes that future updates may support additional formats. Your Plex client should automatically turn on subtitle syncing. If not, you can turn on the feature by ticking the Auto-Sync Subtitles box in the playback settings.
If the toggle is grayed out or cannot be selected, there may be an issue with the required settings. Subtitle syncing won’t work on some Plex Media Server Systems without the option to detect voice activity, including FreeBSD, the Nvidia Shield, and some NAS servers.
A Plex Pass subscription is required for the server admin and the account on the local device. You must also turn on voice activity detection and media analysis on the Plex media server for subtitles resyncing to work. Plex fans have used Bazarr to fix out-of-sync subtitles, but it’s always better to have such an essential feature built in. On the other hand, Bazarr can be set to resync your subtitles when you add new videos to your library, and provides other features.
Plex is also splitting into even more apps, including a dedicated photos app currently available as an open beta test. You can use it to synchronize photos and videos to a Plex server and browse them in a gallery view. It’s a lot like Google Photos or the Photos app on Apple devices, except all the data is stored on your server.
Plex currently offers 20% off a Lifetime Plex Pass subscription, bringing the one-time payment from $120 down to $100. This subscription unlocks all the Plex features and exclusive perks.
Source: Plex, Plex Support
