Buffer allocation for media contents, despite being required for any framework or application dealing with image capture, processing, decoding, encoding, rendering and display, remains an area plagued by many unsolved problems. Over time improvements have been made to APIs for buffer allocation, both on the kernel side (standardization of the DRM dumb buffer API, or DMA heaps, to name a few) and in userspace (most notably with GBM, and the buffer management API in Vulkan), or for specific use cases (e.g. gralloc in Android). Unfortunately, no universal solution exists to allocate buffers shared by multiple devices. This is hindering interoperability and forces userspace to pile hacks and workarounds.
This talk will introduce the problem, present an overview of the existing relevant APIs and frameworks, as well as previous attempts to address the issues. Together with the audience, we will assess if there's a desire to move towards a solution, and if so continue with a workshop on the third day of the conference.