307 lines
		
	
	
		
			12 KiB
		
	
	
	
		
			Plaintext
		
	
	
	
	
	
			
		
		
	
	
			307 lines
		
	
	
		
			12 KiB
		
	
	
	
		
			Plaintext
		
	
	
	
	
	
			The Frame Buffer Device API
 | 
						|
			---------------------------
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Last revised: June 21, 2011
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
0. Introduction
 | 
						|
---------------
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
This document describes the frame buffer API used by applications to interact
 | 
						|
with frame buffer devices. In-kernel APIs between device drivers and the frame
 | 
						|
buffer core are not described.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Due to a lack of documentation in the original frame buffer API, drivers
 | 
						|
behaviours differ in subtle (and not so subtle) ways. This document describes
 | 
						|
the recommended API implementation, but applications should be prepared to
 | 
						|
deal with different behaviours.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
1. Capabilities
 | 
						|
---------------
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Device and driver capabilities are reported in the fixed screen information
 | 
						|
capabilities field.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
struct fb_fix_screeninfo {
 | 
						|
	...
 | 
						|
	__u16 capabilities;		/* see FB_CAP_*			*/
 | 
						|
	...
 | 
						|
};
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Application should use those capabilities to find out what features they can
 | 
						|
expect from the device and driver.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
- FB_CAP_FOURCC
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The driver supports the four character code (FOURCC) based format setting API.
 | 
						|
When supported, formats are configured using a FOURCC instead of manually
 | 
						|
specifying color components layout.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
2. Types and visuals
 | 
						|
--------------------
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Pixels are stored in memory in hardware-dependent formats. Applications need
 | 
						|
to be aware of the pixel storage format in order to write image data to the
 | 
						|
frame buffer memory in the format expected by the hardware.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Formats are described by frame buffer types and visuals. Some visuals require
 | 
						|
additional information, which are stored in the variable screen information
 | 
						|
bits_per_pixel, grayscale, red, green, blue and transp fields.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Visuals describe how color information is encoded and assembled to create
 | 
						|
macropixels. Types describe how macropixels are stored in memory. The following
 | 
						|
types and visuals are supported.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
- FB_TYPE_PACKED_PIXELS
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Macropixels are stored contiguously in a single plane. If the number of bits
 | 
						|
per macropixel is not a multiple of 8, whether macropixels are padded to the
 | 
						|
next multiple of 8 bits or packed together into bytes depends on the visual.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Padding at end of lines may be present and is then reported through the fixed
 | 
						|
screen information line_length field.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
- FB_TYPE_PLANES
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Macropixels are split across multiple planes. The number of planes is equal to
 | 
						|
the number of bits per macropixel, with plane i'th storing i'th bit from all
 | 
						|
macropixels.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Planes are located contiguously in memory.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
- FB_TYPE_INTERLEAVED_PLANES
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Macropixels are split across multiple planes. The number of planes is equal to
 | 
						|
the number of bits per macropixel, with plane i'th storing i'th bit from all
 | 
						|
macropixels.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Planes are interleaved in memory. The interleave factor, defined as the
 | 
						|
distance in bytes between the beginning of two consecutive interleaved blocks
 | 
						|
belonging to different planes, is stored in the fixed screen information
 | 
						|
type_aux field.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
- FB_TYPE_FOURCC
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Macropixels are stored in memory as described by the format FOURCC identifier
 | 
						|
stored in the variable screen information grayscale field.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
- FB_VISUAL_MONO01
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Pixels are black or white and stored on a number of bits (typically one)
 | 
						|
specified by the variable screen information bpp field.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Black pixels are represented by all bits set to 1 and white pixels by all bits
 | 
						|
set to 0. When the number of bits per pixel is smaller than 8, several pixels
 | 
						|
are packed together in a byte.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
FB_VISUAL_MONO01 is currently used with FB_TYPE_PACKED_PIXELS only.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
- FB_VISUAL_MONO10
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Pixels are black or white and stored on a number of bits (typically one)
 | 
						|
specified by the variable screen information bpp field.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Black pixels are represented by all bits set to 0 and white pixels by all bits
 | 
						|
set to 1. When the number of bits per pixel is smaller than 8, several pixels
 | 
						|
are packed together in a byte.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
FB_VISUAL_MONO01 is currently used with FB_TYPE_PACKED_PIXELS only.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
- FB_VISUAL_TRUECOLOR
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Pixels are broken into red, green and blue components, and each component
 | 
						|
indexes a read-only lookup table for the corresponding value. Lookup tables
 | 
						|
are device-dependent, and provide linear or non-linear ramps.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Each component is stored in a macropixel according to the variable screen
 | 
						|
information red, green, blue and transp fields.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
- FB_VISUAL_PSEUDOCOLOR and FB_VISUAL_STATIC_PSEUDOCOLOR
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Pixel values are encoded as indices into a colormap that stores red, green and
 | 
						|
blue components. The colormap is read-only for FB_VISUAL_STATIC_PSEUDOCOLOR
 | 
						|
and read-write for FB_VISUAL_PSEUDOCOLOR.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Each pixel value is stored in the number of bits reported by the variable
 | 
						|
screen information bits_per_pixel field.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
- FB_VISUAL_DIRECTCOLOR
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Pixels are broken into red, green and blue components, and each component
 | 
						|
indexes a programmable lookup table for the corresponding value.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Each component is stored in a macropixel according to the variable screen
 | 
						|
information red, green, blue and transp fields.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
- FB_VISUAL_FOURCC
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Pixels are encoded and  interpreted as described by the format FOURCC
 | 
						|
identifier stored in the variable screen information grayscale field.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
3. Screen information
 | 
						|
---------------------
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Screen information are queried by applications using the FBIOGET_FSCREENINFO
 | 
						|
and FBIOGET_VSCREENINFO ioctls. Those ioctls take a pointer to a
 | 
						|
fb_fix_screeninfo and fb_var_screeninfo structure respectively.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
struct fb_fix_screeninfo stores device independent unchangeable information
 | 
						|
about the frame buffer device and the current format. Those information can't
 | 
						|
be directly modified by applications, but can be changed by the driver when an
 | 
						|
application modifies the format.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
struct fb_fix_screeninfo {
 | 
						|
	char id[16];			/* identification string eg "TT Builtin" */
 | 
						|
	unsigned long smem_start;	/* Start of frame buffer mem */
 | 
						|
					/* (physical address) */
 | 
						|
	__u32 smem_len;			/* Length of frame buffer mem */
 | 
						|
	__u32 type;			/* see FB_TYPE_*		*/
 | 
						|
	__u32 type_aux;			/* Interleave for interleaved Planes */
 | 
						|
	__u32 visual;			/* see FB_VISUAL_*		*/
 | 
						|
	__u16 xpanstep;			/* zero if no hardware panning  */
 | 
						|
	__u16 ypanstep;			/* zero if no hardware panning  */
 | 
						|
	__u16 ywrapstep;		/* zero if no hardware ywrap    */
 | 
						|
	__u32 line_length;		/* length of a line in bytes    */
 | 
						|
	unsigned long mmio_start;	/* Start of Memory Mapped I/O   */
 | 
						|
					/* (physical address) */
 | 
						|
	__u32 mmio_len;			/* Length of Memory Mapped I/O  */
 | 
						|
	__u32 accel;			/* Indicate to driver which	*/
 | 
						|
					/*  specific chip/card we have	*/
 | 
						|
	__u16 capabilities;		/* see FB_CAP_*			*/
 | 
						|
	__u16 reserved[2];		/* Reserved for future compatibility */
 | 
						|
};
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
struct fb_var_screeninfo stores device independent changeable information
 | 
						|
about a frame buffer device, its current format and video mode, as well as
 | 
						|
other miscellaneous parameters.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
struct fb_var_screeninfo {
 | 
						|
	__u32 xres;			/* visible resolution		*/
 | 
						|
	__u32 yres;
 | 
						|
	__u32 xres_virtual;		/* virtual resolution		*/
 | 
						|
	__u32 yres_virtual;
 | 
						|
	__u32 xoffset;			/* offset from virtual to visible */
 | 
						|
	__u32 yoffset;			/* resolution			*/
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
	__u32 bits_per_pixel;		/* guess what			*/
 | 
						|
	__u32 grayscale;		/* 0 = color, 1 = grayscale,	*/
 | 
						|
					/* >1 = FOURCC			*/
 | 
						|
	struct fb_bitfield red;		/* bitfield in fb mem if true color, */
 | 
						|
	struct fb_bitfield green;	/* else only length is significant */
 | 
						|
	struct fb_bitfield blue;
 | 
						|
	struct fb_bitfield transp;	/* transparency			*/
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
	__u32 nonstd;			/* != 0 Non standard pixel format */
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
	__u32 activate;			/* see FB_ACTIVATE_*		*/
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
	__u32 height;			/* height of picture in mm    */
 | 
						|
	__u32 width;			/* width of picture in mm     */
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
	__u32 accel_flags;		/* (OBSOLETE) see fb_info.flags */
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
	/* Timing: All values in pixclocks, except pixclock (of course) */
 | 
						|
	__u32 pixclock;			/* pixel clock in ps (pico seconds) */
 | 
						|
	__u32 left_margin;		/* time from sync to picture	*/
 | 
						|
	__u32 right_margin;		/* time from picture to sync	*/
 | 
						|
	__u32 upper_margin;		/* time from sync to picture	*/
 | 
						|
	__u32 lower_margin;
 | 
						|
	__u32 hsync_len;		/* length of horizontal sync	*/
 | 
						|
	__u32 vsync_len;		/* length of vertical sync	*/
 | 
						|
	__u32 sync;			/* see FB_SYNC_*		*/
 | 
						|
	__u32 vmode;			/* see FB_VMODE_*		*/
 | 
						|
	__u32 rotate;			/* angle we rotate counter clockwise */
 | 
						|
	__u32 colorspace;		/* colorspace for FOURCC-based modes */
 | 
						|
	__u32 reserved[4];		/* Reserved for future compatibility */
 | 
						|
};
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
To modify variable information, applications call the FBIOPUT_VSCREENINFO
 | 
						|
ioctl with a pointer to a fb_var_screeninfo structure. If the call is
 | 
						|
successful, the driver will update the fixed screen information accordingly.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Instead of filling the complete fb_var_screeninfo structure manually,
 | 
						|
applications should call the FBIOGET_VSCREENINFO ioctl and modify only the
 | 
						|
fields they care about.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
4. Format configuration
 | 
						|
-----------------------
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Frame buffer devices offer two ways to configure the frame buffer format: the
 | 
						|
legacy API and the FOURCC-based API.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The legacy API has been the only frame buffer format configuration API for a
 | 
						|
long time and is thus widely used by application. It is the recommended API
 | 
						|
for applications when using RGB and grayscale formats, as well as legacy
 | 
						|
non-standard formats.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
To select a format, applications set the fb_var_screeninfo bits_per_pixel field
 | 
						|
to the desired frame buffer depth. Values up to 8 will usually map to
 | 
						|
monochrome, grayscale or pseudocolor visuals, although this is not required.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
- For grayscale formats, applications set the grayscale field to one. The red,
 | 
						|
  blue, green and transp fields must be set to 0 by applications and ignored by
 | 
						|
  drivers. Drivers must fill the red, blue and green offsets to 0 and lengths
 | 
						|
  to the bits_per_pixel value.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
- For pseudocolor formats, applications set the grayscale field to zero. The
 | 
						|
  red, blue, green and transp fields must be set to 0 by applications and
 | 
						|
  ignored by drivers. Drivers must fill the red, blue and green offsets to 0
 | 
						|
  and lengths to the bits_per_pixel value.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
- For truecolor and directcolor formats, applications set the grayscale field
 | 
						|
  to zero, and the red, blue, green and transp fields to describe the layout of
 | 
						|
  color components in memory.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
struct fb_bitfield {
 | 
						|
	__u32 offset;			/* beginning of bitfield	*/
 | 
						|
	__u32 length;			/* length of bitfield		*/
 | 
						|
	__u32 msb_right;		/* != 0 : Most significant bit is */
 | 
						|
					/* right */
 | 
						|
};
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
  Pixel values are bits_per_pixel wide and are split in non-overlapping red,
 | 
						|
  green, blue and alpha (transparency) components. Location and size of each
 | 
						|
  component in the pixel value are described by the fb_bitfield offset and
 | 
						|
  length fields. Offset are computed from the right.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
  Pixels are always stored in an integer number of bytes. If the number of
 | 
						|
  bits per pixel is not a multiple of 8, pixel values are padded to the next
 | 
						|
  multiple of 8 bits.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Upon successful format configuration, drivers update the fb_fix_screeninfo
 | 
						|
type, visual and line_length fields depending on the selected format.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The FOURCC-based API replaces format descriptions by four character codes
 | 
						|
(FOURCC). FOURCCs are abstract identifiers that uniquely define a format
 | 
						|
without explicitly describing it. This is the only API that supports YUV
 | 
						|
formats. Drivers are also encouraged to implement the FOURCC-based API for RGB
 | 
						|
and grayscale formats.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Drivers that support the FOURCC-based API report this capability by setting
 | 
						|
the FB_CAP_FOURCC bit in the fb_fix_screeninfo capabilities field.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
FOURCC definitions are located in the linux/videodev2.h header. However, and
 | 
						|
despite starting with the V4L2_PIX_FMT_prefix, they are not restricted to V4L2
 | 
						|
and don't require usage of the V4L2 subsystem. FOURCC documentation is
 | 
						|
available in Documentation/media/uapi/v4l/pixfmt.rst.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
To select a format, applications set the grayscale field to the desired FOURCC.
 | 
						|
For YUV formats, they should also select the appropriate colorspace by setting
 | 
						|
the colorspace field to one of the colorspaces listed in linux/videodev2.h and
 | 
						|
documented in Documentation/media/uapi/v4l/colorspaces.rst.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The red, green, blue and transp fields are not used with the FOURCC-based API.
 | 
						|
For forward compatibility reasons applications must zero those fields, and
 | 
						|
drivers must ignore them. Values other than 0 may get a meaning in future
 | 
						|
extensions.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Upon successful format configuration, drivers update the fb_fix_screeninfo
 | 
						|
type, visual and line_length fields depending on the selected format. The type
 | 
						|
and visual fields are set to FB_TYPE_FOURCC and FB_VISUAL_FOURCC respectively.
 |