Screen tearing in KDE Plasma on Wayland is managed through two distinct but related features:
Direct Scan-Out and the
Tearing Protocol.
Direct Scan-Out bypasses the compositor for fullscreen applications, reducing latency and resource usage by sending frames directly from the application to the display hardware. This feature has been supported in KDE Plasma since version
5.22. To enable it, users should navigate to
System Settings > Display and Monitor > Compositor and ensure that
"Screen tearing: Allow in fullscreen windows" is enabled. This setting allows fullscreen applications (like games or video players) to request direct scan-out, which effectively prevents tearing for those specific windows.
The
Tearing Protocol (introduced in KDE Plasma
5.27) is a separate client-side protocol that allows applications to explicitly request tearing behavior. However, support for this protocol is still limited; most applications, including
Xwayland apps, do not yet support it. Consequently, the primary method for preventing tearing in fullscreen applications remains the
Direct Scan-Out implementation. If tearing persists, it may be due to driver limitations (particularly with
Nvidia proprietary drivers) or active desktop effects that block direct scan-out.
Summary of Key Points
- Direct Scan-Out: Bypasses the compositor for fullscreen apps to reduce latency and tearing; available since Plasma 5.22.
- Enabling Tearing Prevention: Set "Screen tearing: Allow in fullscreen windows" in System Settings > Display and Monitor > Compositor.
- Tearing Protocol: A newer client-side protocol (Plasma 5.27+) that is not widely supported by applications yet.
- Potential Issues: Nvidia drivers and active desktop effects (like blur or fading popups) can interfere with direct scan-out, potentially causing stutter or tearing.
