Alex Deucher, an engineer at AMD working on HDMI 2.1 driver development, revealed in the AMD driver bug database on Freedesktop.org that the HDMI Forum, the entity that sets HDMI standards, does not allow AMD to open-source this driver to the public. As a result, the Linux community will not have open-source HDMI 2.1 drivers available and distribution will be limited to binaries only.
HDMI 2.1 is the latest specification for HDMI connectors, released in 2017, supporting data transmission of 48 Gbps or resolutions up to 8K@60. However, unlike previous HDMI versions, the HDMI Forum has not made the HDMI 2.1 specification documents available to the public, restricting access to only paying members of the Forum.
While AMD, as a member of the HDMI Forum, had access to the HDMI 2.1 specification and could develop drivers for their GPU customers, negotiations to open-source the driver with the HDMI Forum were unsuccessful after approximately 2 years of efforts.
Currently, there is no information as to why the HDMI Forum has refused to release the HDMI 2.1 specification. Phoronix speculates that it may be related to concerns about unauthorized distribution of video streams through HDMI, leading to pressure from media and film companies.
Source: Ars Technica, Phoronix
TLDR: AMD engineer working on HDMI 2.1 driver development reveals that the HDMI Forum does not allow open-sourcing of the driver, limiting its distribution to binaries only. The HDMI 2.1 specification is not publicly available, and reasons for this decision remain unknown.
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