Discussions and news about gaming on the GNU/Linux family of operating systems (including the Steam Deck). Potentially a $HOME away from home for disgruntled /r/linux_gaming denizens of the redditarian demesne.
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Original /r/linux_gaming pengwing by uoou.
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Hi! To enable HDR in most games you will need to set your game in fullscreen. Windowed or Borderless won't allow you to use HDR functionality.
You'll also need to use the DXVK_HDR=1 %command% startup variable in steam to enable HDR in any Proton game. Proton 8 and 9 should support HDR without issuez although there are some games that might need additional configuration.
If you use an NVIDIA card, you might need to enable NVAPI with DXVK_ENABLE_NVAPI=1
Happy gaming! :D
NVIDIA Latest Drivers:
Fixes Game Flicker:
file: /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf
options nvidia NVreg_RegistryDwords="PowerMizerEnable=0x1; PerfLevelSrc=0x2222; PowerMizerLevel=0x3; PowerMizerDefault=0x3; PowerMizerDefaultAC=0x3"
General Wayland Fixes:
These can also be set under modprobe, but I was troubleshooting a while back and it was easier to edit them this way before booting. So here's my kernel parameters I have set:
nvidia-drm.modeset=1 nvidia-modeset.hdmi_deepcolor=1 nvidia-drm.fbdev=1 nvidia.NVreg_TemporaryFilePath=/var/tmp
ENV Variables
LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=nvidia
__GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia
__GL_GSYNC_ALLOWED=1
This only lets you enable hdr in game. Since proton runs under xwayland the hdr info won't reach the compositor.
Oh really? That sucks, how do you work around that?
Use Gamescope and a Vulkan layer. Here's a more detailed post: https://planet.kde.org/xavers-blog-2023-12-18-an-update-on-hdr-and-color-management-in-kwin/
If you get the latest gamescope from git. You no longer need the vulkan layer.
I haven't tested it myself, but you'll need to install gamescope and the Vulkan HDR layer, then set the launch options to use it.
Of course, you'll also need a monitor that supports it, and a cable that supports it as well (I recommend using a DisplayPort 1.4+ cable).
Edit: Here's a detailed how-to: https://zamundaaa.github.io/wayland/2023/12/18/update-on-hdr-and-colormanagement-in-plasma.html
To play Proton games you only need the latest gamescope from git, the HDR layer and environment variables are no longer needed for gamescope
Just set the launch arguments on Steam for any game to: gamescope --hdr-enabled --nested-refresh 165 --fullscreen --steam -w 3440 -W 3440 -h 1440 -H 1440 -- %command%.
Don't forget to set your refresh rate and resolution.
If you want to play videos files in HDR (YouTube also works) you need to use mpv together with the HDR layer.
After installing the layer you can run mpv like this: ENABLE_HDR_WSI=1 mpv --vo=gpu-next --target-colorspace-hint --gpu-api=vulkan --gpu-context=waylandvk "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ".
Thanks, appreciate the write up. Definitely sounds like HDR under Linux has a long way to go to reach the "just works" level.
I asked this in another thread but I would be curious to get different perspectives; could you use gamescope and mpv under Gnome and get HDR support or is KDE's HDR support essential here?
Thanks, appreciate the write up. Definitely sounds like HDR under Linux has a long way to go to reach the "just works" level.
It's not as long as you might think, by the end of the year we should have out of the box HDR on Linux. At least for Proton games. All the puzzle pieces are there, they just need to be put in place.
could you use
gamescopeandmpvunder Gnome and get HDR support or is KDE's HDR support essential here?
No, not until GNOME implements their HDR support. You can however run gamescope and mpv directly in tty instead of KDE/GNOME.
Fingers crossed on the out of the box support.
Thanks again for the knowledge.
On the Steam Deck it already "just works" for a lot of games (with an OLED or an external display). So we're not that far off for those changes propagating to Desktop.