Linux 5.3 will arrive with support for HDR metadata in the AMDGPU driver

Linux 5.3

Linux distributions like the one that give this blog its name and their official flavors are still using v5.0.0.16-17 of the Linux kernel. The latest stable version is v5.1.8, while we already know practically everything that a v5.2 will include that has already reached the Release Candidates phase. What has not yet begun to unfold, not by Linus Torvalds, is Linux 5.3, but we already know some details of what will be the next major update to the Linux kernel.

When it comes to display stand HDR on LinuxWe have seen that NVIDIA developers have done a lot of infrastructure work over the past few years, while less time ago Intel's open source developers have also done it with Icelake Gen11 graphics that support HDR. What we have seen less of is something similar on AMD, but in Linux 5.3 one of its HDR DC patches will be merged.

Linux 5.3 will begin development in August

The novelty can be seen in this link, the penultimate line of "Driver Changes." This display code work from AMDGPU exposes HDR output metadata for supported connectors, since user space needs to send HDR metadata to display:

The property is connected to HDMI and DP connectors. Since the metadata is not actually available when creating the connector, this is not a property that we can dynamically support based on whether the extension block is available or not.

When HDR metadata is changed, a set of modes will be forced for now. Anyway, we need to switch from 8bpc to 10bpc in most cases, and we want to completely get out of HDR mode when user space gives us NULL metadata, so this is not completely unnecessary.

The requirement can later be reduced to just entering and exiting HDR or changing max bpc.

The novelty is already on the way, but still needs work. This should come as no surprise, since Linus Torvalds is still working on Linux 5.2 RCs; It will get v5.3 of the Linux kernel in about a month, the week after the official release of v5.2. As is happening in the version currently in development, let's hope the journey is smooth.


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  1.   saebl said

    The screenshot shows a 5.0 kernel and an Intel GPU, but is marked 5.3 xD

  2.   Oscar Rendon said

    My system does not see the original date of publication. Is this a common thing?

  3.   Oscar Rendon said

    My system does not see the original date of publication. Is this a common thing?