AMD FreeSync HDMI Patch Appearing For Their Open-Source Linux Driver

[Viki Ai]

does amd apu supports freesync?
also why people are stuck on hdmi. just move forward and improve displayport. people will have to change their monitors in a few years anyway. its time to improve that displayport

Well, I use a FHD signage screen I pulled from work's e-waste bin that only has HDMI as a digital input option (and no auto-off, for some reason, but I run the PC it is attached to 24/7 anyway). It does me well for what I use it for (workstation, personal server, entertainment system) and, as a signage screen, it will likely last years and years yet. Then I have another identical one from the same dumpster-dive to replace it with when is does die, so I expect to be on HDMI, either directly, or via a DP-HDMI active adapter, for many years to come, I suspect. (I am pretty sure my signage screens don't have FreeSync, though, so in this case the point is a bit moot, but that is why *I* use HDMI - I am not going to waste good money and planetary resources just to upgrade from a archaic-but-adequate video protocol to a chronically-overpowered-for-my-needs one ).

[Mez']

You know what's even more frightening than that? When the self-identified "non normies" demand that every one else settle for a sub-par solution or work flow to accommodate the weirdo one-off use case. The fact is, there has always been niche markets for oddball connectivity scenarios like yours. Various adapters and converters and such. Anyone who's been in IT or audio/video for more than a few months knows this.

i don't demand anything, and I never extrapolate my workflow to everyone.

What kind of oddball connectivity scenarios are you talking about?

Is ARC an oddball connectivity scenario? Then why has it become a must-offer standard over HDMI for basically any TV on the market nowadays? And eARC will follow.
Why do most TVs have HDMI ports if it's not standard?
Why do most computer users still go for HDMI even on their discrete cards?
What's the market penetration of Display Port in non corporate/business laptops? My guess is "way lower" than HDMI. What's yours?
Actually, even the 1600$ work laptop I was given is HDMI only...

Sorry to break it to you, but it seems to me DisplayPort IS the oddball connectivity scenario, whether you want it or not. And my AV workflow might be advanced but it's pretty standard regarding the availability of features.

Why don't you or caligula show any kind of respect for the vast majority of people who bought their devices with HDMI only and intend to make them last? Normies AND those aware of what and why they buy.

Regarding adapters, it usually involves losses, space-eating and if it's alright behind a TV, on the side of a laptop, it's a no-go.

I won't go into the technical aspects, although I personally don't see any benefits of DP quality-wise on the 2 DP connections I make use of. In any case, nobody cares about adapters and I would bet good money that HDMI will keep being more popular than DP for a very long time. Probably even outlive it.

Even if your points are valid to some extent, I feel like you live in a different reality than mine.

This sounds great, but I'm cautious and waiting for the caveats and iffs/buts - probably going to be supported only for some new upcoming product, maybe Chromebook GPU only, or maybe RDNA2 only. Or some other new gaming console using Linux kernel?

does amd apu supports freesync?
also why people are stuck on hdmi. just move forward and improve displayport. people will have to change their monitors in a few years anyway. its time to improve that displayport

Yeah, DisplayPort is way better. Unfortunately, HDMI is mostly the only input supported, as far as TVs are concerned, so we're all forced to live with it. HDMI CEC is pretty nice, but I don't think there are any limitations that would prevent something similar over DisplayPort's AUX channel.

[torsionbar28]

They prefer something so everyone should have the exact same workflow or use cases as they do. It's frightening.
I'm definitely not a normie.

You know what's even more frightening than that? When the self-identified "non normies" demand that every one else settle for a sub-par solution or work flow to accommodate the weirdo one-off use case. The fact is, there has always been niche markets for oddball connectivity scenarios like yours. Various adapters and converters and such. Anyone who's been in IT or audio/video for more than a few months knows this.

[torsionbar28]

HDMI Forum limiting specification access and what can be supported by open-source drivers

This is why DisplayPort is and always will be superior to HDMI. The former is a free and open standard. The latter is a closed one, with restricted access and royalty payments for use.

Yes HDMI is the defacto standard in the living room tv. That's fine and well, that was its original purpose. We should not allow it to poison the desktop pc ecosystem however. Keep HDMI in the living room. Use DisplayPort on the desktop. Clearly the industry is moving in this direction, as for years now, new GPU's switched to 3 DisplayPorts and only 1 HDMI port. Pro cards like Quadro and Radeon Pro include only DP and zero HDMI.

Historically there has always been a different interface standard for TV's vs computer displays, going at least back to the CGA/EGA days in the 1980's. If we want "one interface to rule them all", that's fine and well, but closed proprietary HDMI definitely ain't it.

[nicocarbone]

Why isn't anyone asking the real question - when will this be supported by the default radeon mesa drivers (forgot what they're called) which are the de facto standard on Linux? I'm not switching to amdgpu just for this.

AFAIK this patch is for the kernel AMDGPU driver, which is used by both userland AMDGPU-Pro and Mesa open source drivers, thus should benefit both. Can please someone confirm I am right?

[Mez']

HDMI is like the old VGA port, it is literally everywhere.

Only wayland, pipewire, DisplayPort, USB-C are allowed. Just throw your 2 years old big buck TV already. And spend 5000$ right now to replace everything that doesn't have the latest super über cool standard.

What is wrong with some people?

They prefer something so everyone should have the exact same workflow or use cases as they do. It's frightening.

Many displays (e.g. below average price TVs) don't have any DP ports. I know couple of normies who bought a $500 TV set on last Black Friday or before Christmas, those only had like 3 HDMI ports, VGA, and one composite analog input. No DPs.

My TV has 3 HDMI ports and no DP. It's also my desktop PC monitor (using it as a multimedia box).

I searched for something that would match all my criteria, I'm definitely not a normie. I paid around 1000€ for it about a year ago. It's way above average. Thank you.

[carewolf]

HDMI is like the old VGA port, it is literally everywhere.

Yeah, but unlike VGA, you never know what you get. The version of HDMI ports is hard to tell.

[f0rmat]

What is great about these AMD related posts is that it is obvious that they now have money to drive R&D and driver development. Even a couple of years ago we wouldn't even be discussing support for older features. Now we are getting progress every month - BEAUTIFUL.

You are completely correct. Ryzen and Epyc have certainly helped their bottom line as has the improvement in the dGPUs. It is good to see some of that bottom line going into the open source world.