Technically, the Steam Machine supports HDMI 2.1. However, Valve and AMD are not allowed to offer an open-source driver for it.

The HDMI Forum, responsible for the HDMI specification, continues to stonewall open source. Valve’s Steam Machine theoretically supports HDMI 2.1, but the mini-PC is software-limited to HDMI 2.0. As a result, more than 60 frames per second at 4K resolution are only possible with limitations.

  • Soapbox@lemmy.zipEnglish
    231·
    2 days ago

    Not all software available on Linux is open source. NVIDIA drivers for example. Hell, most of the games on Steam are closed source.

    So, is it just a matter of principle on Valve and AMD’s part that they only want to ship with fully open source drivers?

    I’m not technically knowledgeable enough to understand why you can’t just make the HDMI 2.1 part of the driver code closed source and the rest of the graphics drivers open?

    • turmacar@lemmy.worldEnglish
      191·
      2 days ago

      Modern specs are complicated. I vaguely remember something about a cryptographic key the driver needs to be signed with to successfully complete the handshake to enable all display options between the computer and display.

      Not entirely unwarranted either, an unexpected amount of voltage on an unexpected pin because the driver / hardware is misconfigured damaging your TV would suck. (Still sounds like the Forum is being a dick about it though.)