Linux framebuffer
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
The Linux framebuffer (fbdev) is a linux subsystem used to show graphics on a computer monitor, typically on the system console.[1]
It was designed as a hardware-independent
In most applications, fbdev has been superseded by the Linux Direct Rendering Manager subsystem, but as of 2022, several drivers provide both DRM and fbdev APIs for backwards compatibility with software that has not been updated to use the DRM system, and there are still fbdev drivers for older (mostly embedded) hardware that does not have a DRM driver.[2]
Applications
There are three applications of the Linux framebuffer:
- An implementation of text Linux console that doesn't use hardware text mode (useful when that mode is unavailable, or to overcome its restrictions on glyph size, number of code points etc.). One popular aspect of this is the ability to have console show the Tux logo at boot up.
- A graphic output method for a video adapterhardware and its drivers.
- Graphic programs avoiding the overhead of the X Window System.
Examples of the third application include Linux programs such as
The now defunct[7] DirectFB is another project aimed at providing a framework for hardware acceleration of the Linux framebuffer.
There was also a windowing system called FramebufferUI (fbui) implemented in kernel-space that provided a basic 2D windowing experience with very little memory use.[8]
History
Linux has had generic framebuffer support since the 2.1.109 kernel.[9]
It was originally implemented to allow the kernel to emulate a text console on systems such as the
See also
- Direct Rendering Infrastructure
- Kernel mode setting
References
- ^ The Frame Buffer Device, Linux Kernel Documentation
- ^ "Developer Steps up Wanting to Maintain Linux's FBDEV Subsystem".
- ^ fbff media player repository, GitHub
- ^ fbi/fbida image viewer homepage
- ^ FIM (Fbi IMproved) image viewer homepage
- ^ HiGFXback (History of graphics backends) project with the Linux Framebuffer graphics backend, GitHub
- ^ "DirectFB Is Back To Being Dormant". www.phoronix.com. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
- ^ Framebuffer UI (fbui) in-kernel Linux windowing system, GitHub
- ^ Buell, Alex (5 August 2010). "Framebuffer HOWTO". tldp.org. Archived from the original on 10 December 2023 – via Internet Archive.
External links
| Organization |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Technical |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adoption |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
