Amlogic Meson SoC display controller
The on-chip display controller found in Amlogic Meson SoCs, which power a wide range of Android TV boxes, set-top boxes, and ARM single-board computers like the ODROID-C4 and Khadas VIM4. It drives HDMI and panel output for chips such as the S905X3/X4/X5, A311D, and S928X.
recommendation
It should stay because the Amlogic Meson family is actively shipping in 2025: Amlogic still lists current SoCs like the S905X4, S905X5, A311D, and S928X, and popular single-board computers and TV boxes such as the ODROID-C4 and Khadas VIM4 are still sold new. The driver continues to receive upstream patches and stable backports, and no other driver covers this display block.
repository signals
sources
- git.kernel.org
Kconfig identifies this as "DRM Support for Amlogic Meson Display Controller," i.e. the display engine driver for Amlogic Meson SoCs.
- lore.kernel.org
Recent upstream work still touches meson DRM code in 2026, indicating active maintenance rather than abandonment.
- lore.kernel.org
meson DRM fixes were backported to stable in 2025, which is strong evidence of ongoing real-world support needs.
- amlogic.com
Amlogic's current product catalog still lists multiple Meson-family SoCs such as S905X3, S905X4, S905X5, A311D, and S928X.
- hardkernel.com
A current retail product page offers a new ODROID-C4 based on the Amlogic S905X3, showing new-hardware availability in the Meson family.
- khadas.com
A current retail product page offers the Khadas VIM4 based on the Amlogic A311D2, showing continuing new deployments of Meson-family hardware.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
`keep`: local shell read of `drivers/gpu/drm/meson/Kconfig` identified the hardware family; kernel.org URL included as canonical recall for that file. `lore_file_timeline` on `drivers/gpu/drm/meson/meson_drv.c` showed heavy activity through 2026-03-26 and stable backports in 2025; no removal evidence was found, and a targeted removal/deprecation lore search timed out rather than producing hits. Web search returned Amlogic's live product catalog plus current ODROID-C4 and Khadas VIM4 retail pages, so the hardware is still sold new and still deployed in SBC/STB/device markets. There is no natural replacement driver for the same Meson display block, so removal/deprecation is not justified.