[PATCH v4 0/2] Add "link bpc" DRM property

[PATCH v4 0/2] Add "link bpc" DRM property

[Nicolas Frattaroli]

I'm taking over this series from Marius Vlad.

The series adds a new "link bpc" DRM property. It reflects the display
link's actual achieved output bits per component, considering any
degradation of the bit depth done by drivers for bandwidth or other
reasons. The property's value is updated during an atomic commit, which
is also when it fires an uevent if it changed to let userspace know.

There's a weston implementation at [1] which makes use of this new
property to warn when a user's requested bpc could not be reached.

[1]: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/wayland/weston/-/merge_requests/1850

---
Changes in v4:
- Throw out the workqueue and delayed work item
- Remove the drm_connector_update_link_bpc_state function
- Reimplement it by updating the property and firing the uevent in
  commit_tail
- Check that the provided max_bpc value in attach_link_bpc_property is
  within the expected range
- Clamp the connector state's link_bpc value between 8 and max_bpc so
  that no value outside the declared range is ever written to the drm
  property
- Update and reword doc strings
- Add an amdgpu implementation
- Link to v3: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20251022162843.1759-1-marius.vlad@collabora.com/T/

Changes in v3:
- remove VRR mention from commit description (Ville)
- add DRM_MODE_PROP_IMMUTABLE to flags (Ville)
- provide helpers functions for drivers to use (can be used by other
  types of connectors, not just HDMI)
- send uevent informating userspace when 'link bpc' connector state
  changed (Daniel @ https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/wayland/weston/-/merge_requests/1850)
- added missing doc entry
- Link to v2: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20251006083043.3115-1-marius.vlad@collabora.com/T/

Changes in v2:
- replace return with EBUSY if connector already exists (Dmitry)
- add i-g-t test and an implementation for Weston (Dmitry)
- re-wording patch description (Jani)
- Link to v1: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20250801101750.1726-1-marius.vlad@collabora.com/T/

Signed-off-by: Nicolas Frattaroli <nicolas.frattaroli@collabora.com>

---
Nicolas Frattaroli (2):
      drm/connector: hdmi: Add a 'link bpc' property
      drm/amd/display: Add support for 'link bpc' property

 drivers/gpu/drm/amd/display/amdgpu_dm/amdgpu_dm.c | 15 +++-
 drivers/gpu/drm/display/drm_hdmi_state_helper.c   |  2 +
 drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic_helper.c               |  9 +++
 drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic_uapi.c                 |  2 +
 drivers/gpu/drm/drm_connector.c                   | 86 +++++++++++++++++++++++
 include/drm/drm_connector.h                       | 16 +++++
 6 files changed, 129 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
---
base-commit: 9a6bac4a4a289d3ac043f885758d208ccf07f149
change-id: 20260309-link-bpc-d0afc475ac49

Best regards,
-- 
Nicolas Frattaroli <nicolas.frattaroli@collabora.com>

[PATCH v4 1/2] drm/connector: hdmi: Add a 'link bpc' property

[Nicolas Frattaroli]

Display drivers may degrade from higher bit depths to lower bit depths
for reasons such as bandwidth constraints. Userspace applications, such
as compositors, may wish to know that this has occurred transparently,
instead of assuming that the "max bpc" they requested could be reached.

Introduce a new immutable DRM property called "link bpc" that reflects
the current display link's bits-per-component. An uevent is fired when
the link bpc value changes.

Set the new link_bpc member in the HDMI state helper to its HDMI output
bpc, so that during the next commit, the property is updated accordingly
and the uevent is fired.

Co-developed-by: Derek Foreman <derek.foreman@collabora.com>
Signed-off-by: Derek Foreman <derek.foreman@collabora.com>
Co-developed-by: Marius Vlad <marius.vlad@collabora.com>
Signed-off-by: Marius Vlad <marius.vlad@collabora.com>
Signed-off-by: Nicolas Frattaroli <nicolas.frattaroli@collabora.com>
---
 drivers/gpu/drm/display/drm_hdmi_state_helper.c |  2 +
 drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic_helper.c             |  9 +++
 drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic_uapi.c               |  2 +
 drivers/gpu/drm/drm_connector.c                 | 86 +++++++++++++++++++++++++
 include/drm/drm_connector.h                     | 16 +++++
 5 files changed, 115 insertions(+)

diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/display/drm_hdmi_state_helper.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/display/drm_hdmi_state_helper.c
index a1d16762ac7a..40648574f5e5 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/display/drm_hdmi_state_helper.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/display/drm_hdmi_state_helper.c
@@ -865,6 +865,8 @@ int drm_atomic_helper_connector_hdmi_check(struct drm_connector *connector,
 		struct drm_crtc *crtc = new_conn_state->crtc;
 		struct drm_crtc_state *crtc_state;
 
+		new_conn_state->link_bpc = new_conn_state->hdmi.output_bpc;
+
 		crtc_state = drm_atomic_get_crtc_state(state, crtc);
 		if (IS_ERR(crtc_state))
 			return PTR_ERR(crtc_state);
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic_helper.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic_helper.c
index 26953ed6b53e..4a932f543ac7 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic_helper.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic_helper.c
@@ -2033,9 +2033,11 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(drm_atomic_helper_commit_tail_rpm);
 
 static void commit_tail(struct drm_atomic_state *state)
 {
+	struct drm_connector_state *old_conn_state, *new_conn_state;
 	struct drm_device *dev = state->dev;
 	const struct drm_mode_config_helper_funcs *funcs;
 	struct drm_crtc_state *new_crtc_state;
+	struct drm_connector *connector;
 	struct drm_crtc *crtc;
 	ktime_t start;
 	s64 commit_time_ms;
@@ -2059,6 +2061,13 @@ static void commit_tail(struct drm_atomic_state *state)
 
 	drm_atomic_helper_wait_for_dependencies(state);
 
+	for_each_oldnew_connector_in_state(state, connector, old_conn_state,
+					   new_conn_state, i) {
+		if (old_conn_state->link_bpc != new_conn_state->link_bpc)
+			drm_connector_update_link_bpc_property(connector,
+							       new_conn_state);
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * We cannot safely access new_crtc_state after
 	 * drm_atomic_helper_commit_hw_done() so figure out which crtc's have
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic_uapi.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic_uapi.c
index 87de41fb4459..3e8b4b795512 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic_uapi.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic_uapi.c
@@ -1016,6 +1016,8 @@ drm_atomic_connector_get_property(struct drm_connector *connector,
 		*val = state->privacy_screen_sw_state;
 	} else if (property == connector->broadcast_rgb_property) {
 		*val = state->hdmi.broadcast_rgb;
+	} else if (property == connector->link_bpc_property) {
+		*val = state->link_bpc;
 	} else if (connector->funcs->atomic_get_property) {
 		return connector->funcs->atomic_get_property(connector,
 				state, property, val);
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_connector.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_connector.c
index e70699c59c43..572894dad4bf 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_connector.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_connector.c
@@ -542,6 +542,75 @@ int drmm_connector_init(struct drm_device *dev,
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(drmm_connector_init);
 
+/**
+ * drm_connector_attach_link_bpc_property - create and attach 'link bpc' property
+ * @connector: drm connector
+ * @max_bpc: specify the upper limit, matching  that of 'max bpc' property
+ *
+ * Create and attach the 'link bpc' DRM property on @connector with an upper
+ * limit of @max_bpc.
+ *
+ * Returns:
+ * 0 on success, negative errno on failure.
+ */
+int
+drm_connector_attach_link_bpc_property(struct drm_connector *connector,
+				       unsigned int max_bpc)
+{
+	struct drm_device *dev = connector->dev;
+	struct drm_property *prop;
+
+	if (connector->link_bpc_property)
+		return -EBUSY;
+
+	if (max_bpc < 8 || max_bpc > U8_MAX)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	prop = drm_property_create_range(dev, DRM_MODE_PROP_IMMUTABLE,
+					 "link bpc", 8, max_bpc);
+	if (!prop)
+		return -ENOMEM;
+
+	connector->link_bpc_property = prop;
+
+	drm_object_attach_property(&connector->base, prop, max_bpc);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(drm_connector_attach_link_bpc_property);
+
+/**
+ * drm_connector_update_link_bpc_property - update the 'link bpc' property of a
+ *                                          connector and fire uevent
+ * @connector: pointer to the &struct drm_connector
+ * @state: pointer to the &struct drm_connector_state with the new value
+ *
+ * Update the 'link bpc' property of the given @connector to the
+ * &drm_connector_state.link_bpc member's value of @state and fire a uevent.
+ */
+void
+drm_connector_update_link_bpc_property(struct drm_connector *connector,
+				       struct drm_connector_state *state)
+{
+	u8 bpc = clamp(state->link_bpc, 8, state->max_bpc);
+
+	if (!connector->link_bpc_property)
+		return;
+
+	if (bpc != state->link_bpc)
+		drm_dbg_kms(connector->dev, "[CONNECTOR:%d:%s] Clamping link bpc from %u to %u\n",
+			    connector->base.id, connector->name, state->link_bpc, bpc);
+
+	drm_dbg_kms(connector->dev, "[CONNECTOR:%d:%s] Setting state link bpc %u\n",
+				     connector->base.id, connector->name, bpc);
+	drm_object_property_set_value(&connector->base, connector->link_bpc_property,
+				      bpc);
+
+	drm_sysfs_connector_property_event(connector,
+					   connector->link_bpc_property);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(drm_connector_update_link_bpc_property);
+
 /**
  * drmm_connector_hdmi_init - Init a preallocated HDMI connector
  * @dev: DRM device
@@ -624,6 +693,10 @@ int drmm_connector_hdmi_init(struct drm_device *dev,
 	drm_connector_attach_max_bpc_property(connector, 8, max_bpc);
 	connector->max_bpc = max_bpc;
 
+	ret = drm_connector_attach_link_bpc_property(connector, max_bpc);
+	if (ret)
+		return ret;
+
 	if (max_bpc > 8)
 		drm_connector_attach_hdr_output_metadata_property(connector);
 
@@ -1713,6 +1786,19 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(drm_hdmi_connector_get_output_format_name);
  *	drm_connector_attach_max_bpc_property() to create and attach the
  *	property to the connector during initialization.
  *
+ * link bpc:
+ *	This immutable range property can be used by userspace to determine the
+ *	current display link's bit depth. Drivers can use
+ *	drm_connector_attach_link_bpc_property() to create and attach the
+ *	property to the connector during initialization. They can then set the
+ *	&drm_connector_state.link_bpc member to the actual output bit depth
+ *	after any degradation. The drm property will be updated to this member's
+ *	value on the next atomic commit, and if it changed, a uevent will be
+ *	fired.
+ *	Userspace can listen to the uevent to be notified of link bpc changes,
+ *	and compare the property's value to what userspace requested to
+ *	determine whether colour depth has been degraded.
+ *
  * Connectors also have one standardized atomic property:
  *
  * CRTC_ID:
diff --git a/include/drm/drm_connector.h b/include/drm/drm_connector.h
index c18be8c19de0..3c339a9840c9 100644
--- a/include/drm/drm_connector.h
+++ b/include/drm/drm_connector.h
@@ -1132,6 +1132,11 @@ struct drm_connector_state {
 	 */
 	u8 max_bpc;
 
+	/**
+	 * @link_bpc: Current display link's bits-per-component.
+	 */
+	u8 link_bpc;
+
 	/**
 	 * @privacy_screen_sw_state: See :ref:`Standard Connector
 	 * Properties<standard_connector_properties>`
@@ -2124,6 +2129,12 @@ struct drm_connector {
 	 */
 	struct drm_property *max_bpc_property;
 
+	/**
+	 * @link_bpc_property: Connector property that reflects the current
+	 * output bits per component.
+	 */
+	struct drm_property *link_bpc_property;
+
 	/** @privacy_screen: drm_privacy_screen for this connector, or NULL. */
 	struct drm_privacy_screen *privacy_screen;
 
@@ -2534,6 +2545,11 @@ void drm_connector_attach_privacy_screen_provider(
 	struct drm_connector *connector, struct drm_privacy_screen *priv);
 void drm_connector_update_privacy_screen(const struct drm_connector_state *connector_state);
 
+int drm_connector_attach_link_bpc_property(struct drm_connector *connector,
+					   unsigned int max_bpc);
+void drm_connector_update_link_bpc_property(struct drm_connector *connector,
+					    struct drm_connector_state *state);
+
 /**
  * struct drm_tile_group - Tile group metadata
  * @refcount: reference count

-- 
2.53.0

[PATCH v4 2/2] drm/amd/display: Add support for 'link bpc' property

[Nicolas Frattaroli]

The 'link bpc' DRM property exposes the connector's current display link
bits per component value. This allows userspace to discover whether a
link has degraded from a higher bit depth to a lower one.

Add support for it in amdgpu.

Signed-off-by: Nicolas Frattaroli <nicolas.frattaroli@collabora.com>
---
 drivers/gpu/drm/amd/display/amdgpu_dm/amdgpu_dm.c | 15 ++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/display/amdgpu_dm/amdgpu_dm.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/display/amdgpu_dm/amdgpu_dm.c
index dfe95c9b8746..cca4dd93bb6d 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/display/amdgpu_dm/amdgpu_dm.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/display/amdgpu_dm/amdgpu_dm.c
@@ -7184,6 +7184,14 @@ static void apply_dsc_policy_for_stream(struct amdgpu_dm_connector *aconnector,
 }
 #endif
 
+static void amdgpu_dm_update_link_bpc(struct drm_connector_state *conn_state,
+				      enum dc_color_depth depth)
+{
+	/* 6 bpc is an experimental internal format only, use 8 as minimum */
+	conn_state->link_bpc = clamp(convert_dc_color_depth_into_bpc(depth), 8,
+				     conn_state->max_bpc);
+}
+
 static struct dc_stream_state *
 create_stream_for_sink(struct drm_connector *connector,
 		       const struct drm_display_mode *drm_mode,
@@ -8981,8 +8989,10 @@ void amdgpu_dm_connector_init_helper(struct amdgpu_display_manager *dm,
 				adev->mode_info.underscan_vborder_property,
 				0);
 
-	if (!aconnector->mst_root)
+	if (!aconnector->mst_root) {
 		drm_connector_attach_max_bpc_property(&aconnector->base, 8, 16);
+		drm_connector_attach_link_bpc_property(&aconnector->base, 16);
+	}
 
 	aconnector->base.state->max_bpc = 16;
 	aconnector->base.state->max_requested_bpc = aconnector->base.state->max_bpc;
@@ -11425,6 +11435,9 @@ static int dm_update_crtc_state(struct amdgpu_display_manager *dm,
 			goto fail;
 		}
 
+		amdgpu_dm_update_link_bpc(drm_new_conn_state,
+					  new_stream->timing.display_color_depth);
+
 		/*
 		 * TODO: Check VSDB bits to decide whether this should
 		 * be enabled or not.

-- 
2.53.0

Re: [PATCH v4 1/2] drm/connector: hdmi: Add a 'link bpc' property

[Maxime Ripard]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1316 bytes --]

Hi,

On Wed, Mar 11, 2026 at 12:30:55PM +0100, Nicolas Frattaroli wrote:
> Display drivers may degrade from higher bit depths to lower bit depths
> for reasons such as bandwidth constraints. Userspace applications, such
> as compositors, may wish to know that this has occurred transparently,
> instead of assuming that the "max bpc" they requested could be reached.
> 
> Introduce a new immutable DRM property called "link bpc" that reflects
> the current display link's bits-per-component. An uevent is fired when
> the link bpc value changes.
> 
> Set the new link_bpc member in the HDMI state helper to its HDMI output
> bpc, so that during the next commit, the property is updated accordingly
> and the uevent is fired.
> 
> Co-developed-by: Derek Foreman <derek.foreman@collabora.com>
> Signed-off-by: Derek Foreman <derek.foreman@collabora.com>
> Co-developed-by: Marius Vlad <marius.vlad@collabora.com>
> Signed-off-by: Marius Vlad <marius.vlad@collabora.com>
> Signed-off-by: Nicolas Frattaroli <nicolas.frattaroli@collabora.com>

I feel like this should be two separate patches: one to create the
property, and another to hook it into the HDMI helpers.

With that fixed, and for both patches that will come out of this one,
Acked-by: Maxime Ripard <mripard@kernel.org>

Maxime

[-- Attachment #2: signature.asc --]
[-- Type: application/pgp-signature, Size: 273 bytes --]