Integer Scaling To Come With Linux 5.11 For Intel Graphics Driver

Going back more than a year there have been Intel "i915" kernel graphics driver patches implementing integer mode scaling support while finally for Linux 5.11 in early 2021 the support will have landed.

Intel added integer mode scaling to their Windows graphics driver back in 2019 to provide better clarity when upscaling games (particularly pixel art type content) and other software. The Linux patches materialized in September 2019 for nearest-neighbor integer mode scaling and then seemingly forgotten about. The capability works with Gen11 / Ice Lake and newer.

Now that DRM-Next material for Linux 5.10 has landed, early work is beginning to accumulate for material ultimately slated to queue up for Linux 5.11. One of the early changes is that Intel nearest-neighbor integer mode scaling support.

The code is queued currently in drm-tip after going through multiple rounds of patch review.

Along with the nearest-neighbor integer mode scaling implementation is additional work for supporting plane and CRTC scaling filter properties. This is how user-space will be able to configure the driver's default scaling filter.

XBMC/Kodi is one of the first major Linux programs prepared to make use of the new interface for supporting integer mode scaling on Linux.

The Linux 5.11 cycle's merge window will open around the end of the calendar year while the stable release won't come until around February, but at least in time for making it into the likes of Ubuntu 21.04.