Intel Graphics Driver Ready For HDR Support In Linux 5.3, Other Last-Minute Features

While there still is a few weeks until the Linux 5.2 kernel will debut and thus the opening of the Linux 5.3 merge window, due to DRM-Next halting new feature code from merging prior to that point, in preparation Intel open-source developers sent in their final batch of feature work aiming for Linux 5.3.

Intel developers already had sent in multiple feature updates for 5.3 while Wednesday was their last scheduled update.

Most notably with this latest patch is that from the kernel-side their HDR (High Dynamic Range) support should be in good standing for dealing with these beautiful displays. In recent months Intel developers have been working on HDR support for not only their graphics driver code but also infrastructure work around Wayland and other areas of the Linux desktop. This HDR support is being pursued now by Intel developers with Icelake's Gen 11 graphics offering HDR support.

So with Linux 5.3 it looks like the initial HDR support for Intel graphics hardware should be in good standing but there still is more user-space infrastructure work needed before it will be pleasant for the Linux desktop and on-par with Windows and macOS.

Other work in this last drm-intel-next update for Linux 5.3 includes Icelake multi-segmented gamma support, support for new DMC header versions, Mule Creek Canyon PCH support, Elkhart Lake platform feature updates, switching to using Command Transport Buffers with GuC for all supported generations, and the i915.force_probe kernel module parameter replaces the i915.alpha_support flag for enabling alpha/preliminary hardware support.

There are also various code refactoring improvements and various other fixes. Some of that cleaning and refactoring is at least in part prepping for the future Intel discrete graphics.

The complete list of Intel i915 DRM changes can be found via this pull request.