AMD Posts Navi Display Stream Compression Support For Linux

[phoronix]

Phoronix: AMD Posts Navi Display Stream Compression Support For Linux

One of the kernel-side features not yet in place for AMD's newest Navi graphics processors on Linux has been Display Stream Compression support but that is being squared away with a new patch series...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=AMD-Navi-DSC-Linux-Patches

[cb88]

Well hopefully 4k 144Hz is ready by the time big RDNA rolls off the line...

[aufkrawall]

It seems with all the work left for Navi, it is too much to ask for a single fix for pageflipping on at least Polaris.

https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=110659

[timofonic]

From the article:
"VESA's Display Stream Compression is for low-latency lossless compression performance for power-savings"

DSC is not lossless, it is lossy compression (at about 1:3 ratio, if memory serves me well). VESA calls it 'visually lossless', but that means lossy, as even JPEG is often 'visually lossless'.

I hate it when mindless journalists, like Michael Larabel, just copy-paste articles and sentences from other sources without VERIFYING THE CONTENTS and doing CRITICAL ANALYSIS.

Oh, perhaps he just inadvetredly dropped the word 'visually'? No he didn't. He copy-pasted the article, without any thinking.

I agree. This is the journalism equivalent of fast food. Michael, please do things better.

[vegabook]

From the article:
"VESA's Display Stream Compression is for low-latency lossless compression performance for power-savings"

DSC is not lossless, it is lossy compression (at about 1:3 ratio, if memory serves me well). VESA calls it 'visually lossless', but that means lossy, as even JPEG is often 'visually lossless'.

I hate it when mindless journalists, like Michael Larabel, just copy-paste articles and sentences from other sources without VERIFYING THE CONTENTS and doing CRITICAL ANALYSIS.

Oh, perhaps he just inadvetredly dropped the word 'visually'? No he didn't. He copy-pasted the article, without any thinking.

+ timofonic

Or maybe you should get on your hands and knees and thank Michael Larabel for posting about 12 articles a day for free, many of which have vast amounts of original content, all for the pathetically low price of zero or 2 usd per month. That there are a few oversights here and there in even the best publications is completely routine (I worked as a journalist in tier 1 publications for numerous years).

Tell me where else you get this level of high quality original Linux content, at any price, because I'd really like to know.

[JMB9]

I am a little bit shocked - though I had expected something bad as it was announced on Phoronix in Oct. 2018 that Intel prepped Mesa for 5k+ for Icelake.
That means currently neither Intel nor AMD would be capable of using 8k@60Hz, which is what I am looking for ...
I want to buy a PC right now and even a specialist PC builder is not giving any answer - after stating that Raven Ridge was chipset limited in maxumum resolution - and now it's reported that not even Navi is capable of 8k (under Linux right now).
It is ridiculous that I am using 4k at an Intel Haswell iGPU system of 2013 with a screen of 2015 - with 8k prototype screens being shown before I bought that screen - and neither screens nor PC graphics can be purchased being capable of 8k@60Hz in 2019. That's a shame, isn't it.

I would really like to hear from someone from AMD what "ODM Combine" problem is - and if any graphics APU or GPU HW is guaranteed to be capable of 8k,
Navi or Vega, as Vega seems to be used in the current/coming desktop APUs.
Maybe the Linux support may last a few months - to be hopefully available with Ubuntu 20.04 LTS release - which should be the target for Linux desktop usage.
Or is this out of reach?

On another note: Are there real specs for AMD graphics - as last time I checked on AMD website I saw "DisplayPort yes - HDMI yes" - so no experts buying AMD products? I expected DP 1.4 & HDMI 2.1 or similar.
And maybe someone could make an expert guess how long one may have to wait for DP 2.0 to come to a real AMD product - late 2020?
Michael could you please provide info if/when you test new APU or dGPU systems (like Ryzen 5 3400G) about max resolution with refresh rates, DP and HDMI port versions? I think this may be of general interest ...

My focus with PCs is on working - I need resolution (and not muti-screen workarounds). I would doubt that no one else is longing for this ...
One may think the only purpose of a capable APU/iGPU/dGPU is just gaming ... in FullHD - cough - that's not how it should be.
At least even games will benefit from professional graphics.

[Hibbelharry]

8K is a niche. I just did a short research and my local gernan research tool found one (!) 8k Monitor for sale. For a lousy 2900 Euros.

https://geizhals.eu/?cat=monlcd19wide&xf=14591_76804320

8K totally didn't get into any relevance yet, and noone said AMD wouldn't get 8K working in the future.

[hwentland]

I don't expect it'll be too long until we have a fix for the ODM issue but there was no reason to hold back the rest of the DSC patches.

[tuxd3v]

It seems with all the work left for Navi, it is too much to ask for a single fix for pageflipping on at least Polaris.
https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=110659

I agree with that,
Improving support in Polaris, is the same has improve also for newer generations( in some cases, newer cards have evolution blocks of previous ones.. )..

[JMB9]

Hibbelharry Of cause there are no reasonable screens available yet. Same for 4k in 2013 when I bought my still most recent computer which was capable for 4k@60Hz via DP.
It's just rumors, but TVs should come soon - with HDMI 2.0 only 4k@60Hz was reached needing HDMI 2.1 for 8k@60Hz.
DP 1.4 is capable of 8k60Hz with DSC 1.2 - so this may be enough for a reasonable use - but DP 2.0 was really late (with 1.4+ cancelled) so that would be ideal for high resolution no longer needing DSC.
And a reasonable pricing will come when 8k will get standard - and if evolution happens similar to 4k it starts with TVs.
So with luck it is just several months - or a year ...
But it is interesting that even 5k screens are just trash ... concerning the technical site - let alone pricing.

I am not interested what future AMD product are capable of - I am not content that I could not find reasonable specs of AMD products currently sold.
And "internal feature that may be currently buggy" may mean AMD is working on SW and will absolutely sure deliver that support later - or that the HW is buggy and that support will never be achieved (well, Raven Ridge, the chipset trouble with Zen and RdRand with Family 15h and 16h are such examples which one may avoid).
And I would expect - or better demand for something I purchase now - that APU/iGPU/dGPU graphics are capable of much higher resolution than provided by current screens, so one may get a new screen in future.
That's just what I did in 2013/15 - and with the power of AMDs chips it would be a shame if max resolution was just 4k.
And I could not find any relevant info about current AMD HW - that's the point. Maybe it is missing on purpose?
Intel gave those info in 2013 - and I just can't understand what's going on right now. I miss those IBM roadmaps going 10 years in the future (and even being kept ).
But Intel was first to no longer provide such visions ... but current HW sold already in stores ... I am out. "Just buy my product, it is good, trust me" in technology for experts? Ups.

So if I am wrong just send the link and than it's all my fault - otherwise someone may explain why DP .. / HDMI ... / max resolution ... data can no longer been given. These are basic information and very relevant ... or is it really just me ???