KDE Plasma 6 Looks to Bring Basic HDR Support
The KWin piece of KDE Plasma now has HDR support and color management geared for the 6.0 release.
When KDE Plasma 6.0 finally lands, users will find that HDR support has finally arrived. Because 4k screens are becoming the norm, HDR (High Dynamic Range) support has become a necessity.
With HDR, video content can be pushed well beyond the limits of the now outdated standards media outlets have held onto for decades. Support for HDR in KDE Plasma 6.0 came by way of an HDR hackfest that was organized by Red Hat in May 2023 as well as the Plasma Sprint.
KDE Plasma 6.0 will only offer HDR support for Wayland sessions, which, according to KDE developer Nate Graham, "lays the groundwork for color management on Wayland."
You can read a very in-depth post, written by KDE developer Xaver Hugl, about HDR and color management in KWin. In his post, Hugl says, "We didn’t do a lot of hacking at the hackfest, but I did manage to drive an HDR screen with a wide color gamut and with HDR mode enabled while having KWin do the required color conversions to make SDR content look correct."
One thing to keep in mind is that, with KDE Plasma 6, Wayland will be the default display manager.
Also, according to Hugl, HDR support will be "quite basic at first." Because of that, users won't be able to jump in and immediately watch videos or play games in HDR. The development team has a long road ahead of them before HDR support in Linux matures.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Canonical Bumps LTS Support to 12 years
If you're worried that your Ubuntu LTS release won't be supported long enough to last, Canonical has a surprise for you in the form of 12 years of security coverage.
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.
-
New Pentesting Distribution to Compete with Kali Linux
SnoopGod is now available for your testing needs
-
Juno Computers Launches Another Linux Laptop
If you're looking for a powerhouse laptop that runs Ubuntu, the Juno Computers Neptune 17 v6 should be on your radar.
-
ZorinOS 17.1 Released, Includes Improved Windows App Support
If you need or desire to run Windows applications on Linux, there's one distribution intent on making that easier for you and its new release further improves that feature.
-
Linux Market Share Surpasses 4% for the First Time
Look out Windows and macOS, Linux is on the rise and has even topped ChromeOS to become the fourth most widely used OS around the globe.
-
KDE’s Plasma 6 Officially Available
KDE’s Plasma 6.0 "Megarelease" has happened, and it's brimming with new features, polish, and performance.
-
Latest Version of Tails Unleashed
Tails 6.0 is based on Debian 12 and includes GNOME 43.
-
KDE Announces New Slimbook V with Plenty of Power and KDE’s Plasma 6
If you're a fan of KDE Plasma, you'll be thrilled to hear they've announced a new Slimbook with an AMD CPU and the latest version of KDE Plasma desktop.
-
Monthly Sponsorship Includes Early Access to elementary OS 8
If you want to get a glimpse of what's in the pipeline for elementary OS 8, just set up a monthly sponsorship to help fund its continued existence.