FastSync

Sync Philips Hue lights with screen colors on Linux. Uses PipeWire/XDG portal for Wayland-native capture.

Dependencies

# Arch
pacman -S python-dbus python-gobject python-numpy gstreamer gst-plugins-base
# Debian/Ubuntu
apt install python3-dbus python3-gi python3-numpy gstreamer1.0-tools gstreamer1.0-plugins-base
# pip (if needed)
pip install dbus-python PyGObject numpy

Optional (for bridge discovery):

pip install zeroconf requests

Setup

python hue_setup.py

1. Discovers bridges on network (cloud API + mDNS)
2. Press bridge button when prompted
3. Select which light to sync

Config saved to config.json.

Run

python hue_screen_sync.py

Select screen/monitor when portal dialog appears. Ctrl+C to stop.

Config

Edit config.json:

{
"bridge_ip": "192.168.1.x",
"api_key": "your-api-key",
"light_id": "1",
"update_interval_ms": 100,
"smoothing_factor": 0.3,
"screen_portion": 0.33,
"saturation_boost": 1.4,
"warmth": 0.03
}

Key	Default	Notes
update_interval_ms	100	Capture rate (ms)
smoothing_factor	0.3	EMA coefficient, lower = smoother transitions
screen_portion	0.33	Bottom % of screen to sample
saturation_boost	1.4	Color saturation multiplier
warmth	0.03	Shift toward warm (red-ish) tones

How it works

Screen -> PipeWire -> GStreamer (64x36 RGB) -> bottom region avg
-> sRGB to CIE xy -> saturation/warmth adjust -> EMA smoothing
-> Hue bridge (HTTP PUT, coalesced @ 60Hz max)

• XDG portal for screen access (works on Wayland)
• Threaded HTTP sender to avoid blocking capture loop
• D65 white point fallback for dark/black screens

License

GPLv2 - see LICENSE