Variable refresh rate / Freesync supported?

    Does LE support VRR or Freesync? Would this be a better alternative to doing a mode switch every time a file that does not match the current refresh rate is played?

    Newer "Generic" LE images contain kernels/drivers that technically support them (sort of, it's still WIP in Linux) but Kodi currently makes no use of either so it's "not supported" for now. In the long term that might change, and it might be a good solution for use with general purpose distros that increasinly use Wayland instead of Xorg; because Wayland does not support the kind of userspace driven mode/rate change that Kodi requires for optimal playback. However, even if Kodi and Wayland do gain support I doubt LE would switch as Wayland increases the code stack (more maintenance) and VRR/Freesync requires GPU + TV/Monitor support which is not guaranteed. TL/DR; even if Kodi gains support it doesn't provide real-world benefits over our current GBM/V4L2 approach.

    Really appreciate the detailed answer. I think the primary benefit (and the reason I raised this topic) is having the UI run at a higher refresh rate, for example 60Hz or 100Hz and easily play back content at different frame rates without mode switches.

    For anybody that is interested, mode switching for wayland doesn't seem to be on the horizon so maybe VRR is the way forward after all https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/issues/20614