NOTE: Mesa 25.1+ implements the color management protocol directly, this Vulkan layer is no longer necessary with that.

Implements the following vulkan extensions, if either frog-color-management-v1 or xx-color-management-v4 Wayland protocol is supported by the compositor:

• VK_EXT_swapchain_colorspace
• VK_EXT_hdr_metadata

KWin supports the frog protocol since Plasma 6.0, and xx-color-management-v4 in 6.2.

0. Ensure you have Dependencies/Requirments

• Ninja build tool
• Meson build system
• Vulkan development libraries (including headers)
• Wayland development libraries

1. clone the repository and navigate into the directory:

git clone https://github.com/Zamundaaa/VK_hdr_layer.git
cd VK_hdr_layer

2. Use Mason/ninja to build and install the layer:

meson setup builddir
ninja -C builddir
sudo meson install -C builddir

This will install the layer files into the appropriate system directories.

3. Enable HDR in your compositor Arch - HDR monitor Support has links with instructions for different compositors

Quake II RTX suports HDR when run in Wayland native mode with this Vulkan layer. To do that, put SDL_VIDEODRIVER=wayland ENABLE_HDR_WSI=1 %command% into its launch arguments.

As of Wine 9.0, Wine's native wayland mode supports HDR through DXVK.
To enable it, run wine reg.exe add HKCU\\Software\\Wine\\Drivers /v Graphics /d x11,wayland inside your Wine Prefix, Then unset the DISPLAY variable and set DXVK_HDR=1 Make sure you set ENABLE_HDR_WSI=1 when running an application or game.

mpv Supports HDR Video playback through Vulkan's HDR Surface.
To play an HDR video, set ENABLE_HDR_WSI=1 and run mpv with --vo=gpu-next --target-colorspace-hint --gpu-api=vulkan --gpu-context=waylandvk

Gamescope implements color management protocols directly and this layer should not be used with it.