Intel Revises Linux Graphics Driver Support For DP MST Display Stream Compression

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Intel Revises Linux Graphics Driver Support For DP MST Display Stream Compression

Along with all the other ongoing Linux work for Arc Graphics, another feature patch series from Intel worth mentioning is they have been buttoning up work on DisplayPort Multi-Stream Transport Display Stream Compression (MST DSC) functionality...

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Intel-DP-MST-DSC-Linux

[TheLexMachine]

MST never worked well at high resolutions, so I'm surprised they are still bothering with it, since it's not widely used now and only implemented in a handful of currently shipping professional displays. Back in the day, it was used in professional GPU cards, for multi-monitor support with physical adapters that would turn 1 port into 2-4, then it moved over to high-resolution displays that used DP - the industry move to HDMI killed off use of DP and MST at high-resolutions - and was used in the first 4K and 8K monitors, but the software and hardware support was always glitchy past resolutions and refresh rates that would now be considered normal/low-end.

[mifritscher]

I'm using 2x 1440p with DP-MST daily - even on 2 different setups - private and for work. It works flawless. In my experience, DP is more stable than HDMI - partly because of the mechanical lock of "normal" DP connectors. One gotcha, though: USB-C can either provide 4 DP lanes _or_ USb 3.0, not both at the same time. TB fixes this. I've used DP-> 2x HDMI adapter before, but my current monitors have a MST hub built-in.

Btw, in most offices, 1080p is considered "normal" - with many 900p or even 768p screens still around