Weston Composite Server 14.0 Released

A new release of Weston composite server 14.0 is now available.

After nine months of intense development, the Weston project has finally released version 14.0 of its composite server. Weston is a crucial component in the development of modern desktop environments, including Enlightenment, GNOME, KDE, and others. This release brings a plethora of new features, improvements, and enhancements that will enable full support for Wayland in various desktop environments and embedded solutions.

Weston’s primary goal is to provide a high-quality code base and working examples for using Wayland in desktop environments and embedded solutions. The project’s focus on delivering a robust and reliable composite server has made it an essential component in the development of modern desktop environments.

Weston 14.0: What’s New

The new Weston 14.0 release brings several exciting features and improvements, including:

Hardware Underlay Support: The DRM output backend now supports hardware underlay, enabling more efficient rendering and improved performance.
Atomic Async Flip Mode: The DRM output backend also enables atomic async flip mode between two video memory buffers, reducing screen tearing and improving overall display quality.
Output Mirroring: The ‘mirror-of’ setting has been added to the configuration file, allowing users to enable output mirroring for multiple displays.
Pipewire Media Server Output Backend: The Pipewire media server output backend now supports DmaBuf technology, enabling more efficient video playback and rendering.
Simple-EGL Client Enhancements: The simple-egl client now allows the use of translucent surfaces with 16-bit color representation, and an option for using the EGL extension EGL_EXT_present_opaque has been added.
FreeRDP 3.x Support: The backend for output via the RDP protocol now supports FreeRDP 3.x, enabling more efficient and secure remote desktop connections.
VNC Output Backend Enhancements: The VNC output backend now provides the ability to disable TLS and use a password for authentication in non-TLS mode, improving security and flexibility.
Libweston Enhancements: Libweston now supports the Wayland protocol extension for color management, enabling more accurate and consistent color representation across different devices.
OpenGL Rendering Component Enhancements: The OpenGL rendering component (gl-renderer) now supports capturing OpenGL ES 3 and OpenGL ES 2 output in asynchronous mode, as well as the ability to change the color of objects using a shader.