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.

DisplayPort's Multi-Stream Transport (MST) is the feature allowing multiple independent video signals to be sent over a single DP output for use when daisy changing displays or an MST hub. With Display Stream Compression (DSC) for MST, it allows compressing the signal and can mean being able to support up to say three 4K@60 displays rather than just two displays -- pending DSC support by the MST hub and monitors too. The DSC specification like DisplayPort is specified by VESA and has been around since DisplayPort 1.4 to allow for more displays and/or higher resolution / higher refresh displays thanks to the compression.

DP MST DSC and other functionality will become more important with Arc Graphics discrete graphics cards coming to market.

Intel's Linux graphics driver to date has only supported Display Stream Compression when in DisplayPort Single-Stream Transport (SST) operation. But now with a Linux patch series revised yet again today, DP MST DSC is coming to their open-source "i915" kernel graphics driver.

This patch series has the ~200 lines of new Intel kernel graphics driver code getting DP MST DSC going on Linux. With some luck we could see this functionality potentially ready in time for the v6.1 cycle opening up in October.