If you’ve ever wondered why some Linux users are experiencing issues with an NVIDIA GPU on Wayland and you aren’t, KDE developer Xaver Hugl explains in a recent post why the explicit sync protocol will finally settle the score for everyone.
You may have heard about explicit sync (short for explicit synchronization) being merged into the Wayland protocols recently. But what is it? Well, it’s a new protocol based on DRM synchronization objects where apps explicitly tell the userspace graphics driver, kernel, or compositor when rendering is complete.
Until now, when apps rendered things, they weren’t rendered immediately. This method is called “implicit sync” and involves apps recording a list of commands with the OpenGL or Vulkan drivers for the graphics card to execute, which could lead to the issues some of you are experiencing with NVIDIA and Wayland.
With the explicit synchronization in place, these “accidental” synchronization will no longer happen. In addition, Xaver Hugl says that it will boost performance by reducing the work drivers have to do because apps will just tell them directly instead of having to figure out the dependencies of tasks from a list of commands.
So, long story short, the explicit sync protocol is something NVIDIA GPU users should look for this year as it is being implemented in Wayland compositors, the proprietary NVIDIA driver, and Xwayland to finally make everyone happy and encourage the Wayland adoption among NVIDIA users.
Image credits: NVIDIA Corporation (edited by Marius Nestor)
Last updated 4 weeks ago