mesa 25.1 implements VK_EXT_swapchain_colorspace and VK_EXT_hdr_metadata so that using HDR on mesa now does not require an additional Vulkan layer. However, while these extensions have long been implemented on the Windows driver, the NVIDIA Linux driver still does not implement them.
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VK_ext_hdr_metadata has been on the Vulkan beta drivers for a long time now and has not been pushed to the Main branches for some reason?
Is there any timeline on this NVIDIA? The current setup to have working HDR on Nvidia is lacking, and some of the gaming distros (Bazzite) have forcefully removed the ability to install the existing solution to “mitigate” the issue.
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Also note that as of Mesa 26.0, even that alternative VK_hdr_layer is now marked as “Obsolete” in the Fedora repos. This will break HDR on (at least) Fedora-based distros, such as Bazzite starting at version 43.20260212.
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Glad I am on Arch. I agree with the person who chimed in. Now you are putting this on your users. What a stupid move. They could have done this after the Vulkan beta extensions got pushed to the main branch, but they had to be tools.
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Before the Mesa update, yeah I kind of agreed, or they could of at least left it in just for the Nvidia images. At the same time though, I really do agree with him; Nvidia does need to get it together, especially since the changes have been on the beta branch (apparently) for quite a while.
But now though? There’s not much they can really do even if they wanted to. The majority of Linux gaming is on AMD right now, and I wouldn’t hold off a major Mesa update because of a single annoying yet benign Nvidia issue.
Yeah, this is sad. I will probably have to move back from Bazzite to windows until the issue is resolved :(
The heroes at bazzite is doing a hacky fix to address the issue.
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Self made problem by them, but glad to see they finally decided to try to find a compromise for the Nvidia users.
Nvidia REALLY needs to hurry up and merge the Vulkan beta driver extensions with the mainline driver.
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HDR is still unusable even with the extensions.
I’ve tested the latest Vulkan driver, and it works without the vk_hdr_layer.
Huh, interesting. Which vulkan driver is that? And what parameters are you using for Proton? It does not work for me when I tested.
https://developer.nvidia.com/downloads/vulkan-beta-5809417-linux
This one.
I use Proton CachyOS and I just need the following env variables:
PROTON_ENABLE_WAYLAND=1
PROTON_ENABLE_HDR=1
%command%
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Huh! That seems to work for me as well!
Yes! We just need Nvidia to migrate these extensions to the final driver. It works, and it’s one less hacky stuff we need to have proper HDR like AMD users now have with Mesa.
I’m hoping 595 driver has it but Nvidia is radio silent on it.
@amrits @esullivan Sorry for mentioning you directly, but would it be possible to clarify if these two extensions, VK_EXT_swapchain_colorspace and VK_EXT_hdr_metadata, will be supported by the new 595 driver? It would be nice to not have to rely on hacks (https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/vk-hdr-layer-kwin6-git/) to get HDR up and running.
Thanks in advance!
These extensions will be supported in new branch drivers. Thanks for being patient.
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notes for the freshly released v595 do not mention these extensions :(
they don’t, but they appear to be included
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They are both there and HDR works
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Fantastic news! :) Many thanks to @amrits and his team for making this happen!
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