Earlier this month Intel Linux software engineers began posting patches for enabling Xe3P kernel graphics driver support with initial usage by Nova Lake processors and later the expected Celestial discrete GPUs. That initial Xe3P iGPU support is going into Linux 6.19 but expect more feature additions and optimizations in follow-on kernel cycles in 2026. Similarly the patches have now begun coming out for enabling the display engine capabilities for “Xe3P_LPD” for actually being able to drive displays (monitors) with Xe3P on Nova Lake.
Intel engineers have been working on the Xe3p_LPD display support for their Linux kernel graphics driver. Xe3p_LPD is recognized as Intel “display IP version 35” and incrementally improved over the Xe3 display support (display IP version 30) found with upcoming Panther Lake and Wildcat Lake platforms that in turn is an incremental improvement over the Xe2 display capabilities.
The latest patches note more Xe3P_LPD display functionality will be wired up in the future:
“This series adds initial support for Xe3p_LPD, Intel’s display architecture with IP version 35.
This series contains basic enabling patches and does not provide complete support for the display IP yet. More involved features, like the new PHY implementation and ALPM will come as separate patch series.”
As for what’s included with this initial Xe3P display enablement work is introducing support for UINT16 formats new to Xe3P_LPD, frame-buffer compression for FP16 formats is also now supported, extending the frame-buffer compression (FBC) for UINT16 formats as well, now supporting horizontal flip capabilities compared to only vertical flip support previously for planes, interlace support is removed from Xe3P_LPD hardware, and various other updates.
We’ll see if this initial display support for Xe3P / Nova Lake gets buttoned up in time for Linux 6.19 or if will be held off until Linux 7.0 with other changes, etc. In any event it’s good seeing Intel still getting their open-source hardware enablement patches for Linux out early even with everything going on this year at the company.
