Intel Submits Initial Batch Of Graphics Driver Updates Slated For Linux 5.12

Now that more developers are returning from their holiday breaks, the first pull request to DRM-Next has been submitted of Intel kernel graphics driver material destined for Linux 5.12.

Sent in today were the first of several batches of new Intel "i915" kernel graphics driver feature updates to DRM-Next in queuing ahead of the Linux 5.12 merge window. Among the code submitted today include:

- Frame-buffer Compression (FBC) fixes for Gen12 Tiger Lake graphics.

- The long effort to enable HDR display support on some Intel Gen9 graphics hardware has finally come together. This is about HDR support with Intel Gen9 graphics when accompanied by an LSPCON chip, the Level Shifter and Protocol Converter found on some motherboards/laptops.

- Atomic mode-setting improvements for the Big Joiner support that was merged in Linux 5.11 for allowing the likes of 8K outputs over a single port.

- Initial work on supporting Intel's eDP (proprietary) backlight controls.

Those are the main highlights from this initial batch of Intel graphics changes for Linux 5.12, but stay tuned for more work over the coming weeks. The current pull request can be viewed here. One area we are still waiting for improvements on are bettering the Intel dGPU / multi-GPU experience on Linux.