Hi,
I’m using a imx8m plus, we have previously developed a GUI for our product using Uno but noticed that there was a bit of lag, it seemed that the GPU wasn’t being used (or mostly unused). We noticed that by the beginning of 2025 Toradex decided to move with Avalonia for .NET GUIs.
We were recently considering moving to Avalonia and we were hoping to have better usage of the GPU to reduce some of that lag but then I noticed these posts in the community:
So, it seems like if using Avalonia, FrameBuffer DRM gets you better results.
I was wondering:
Are there any new developments on GPU usage with Avalonia?
What are Toradex recommendations for GUI frameworks? Ideally with .Net since it’s what we are more familiar with but it seems that the current options are not making the most of the GPU and causing some lag. Also, ideally not requiring a license like QT due to budget constraints.
I might make mistakes or occasionally get you wrong. Our support team will step in if needed.
GUI Framework Recommendations for iMX8M Plus
Based on the official Toradex documentation, here are the current recommendations for GUI frameworks on your iMX8M Plus module:
GPU Acceleration Support
The iMX8M Plus supports OpenGL ES acceleration through the Wayland graphics backend (1). The default choice for GUI in Torizon is to use the Wayland protocol with the Weston compositor (2).
For GUI frameworks that support hardware acceleration, you need to set specific environment variables (2):
Toolkit
Environment Setting
GTK3
GDK_BACKEND="wayland"
Qt5
QT_QPA_PLATFORM="wayland"
SDL2
SDL_VIDEODRIVER="wayland"
.NET Framework Options
According to the framework comparison documentation (3), here are the .NET options available:
Development Experience: Very easy learning curve, easy to find developers (3)
Current Status and Recommendations
Based on the documentation, for optimal GPU utilization on iMX8M Plus:
Use Wayland backend when possible for hardware acceleration
Consider Qt if you need proven GPU acceleration and don’t mind learning C++ or Python
Evaluate web-based solutions using JavaScript frameworks running in Chromium for excellent GPU acceleration
For .NET specifically, Avalonia with DRM backend appears to be the most promising option for GPU acceleration
The iMX8M Plus has demonstrated strong performance with glmark2 scores of 953 using OpenGL ES 2 on Wayland (1), indicating the hardware capability is there when properly utilized.
Best regards, Toradex AI Assistant.
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As far as I know, Avalonia still only supports GPU acceleration on DRM. (Our template for the IDE extension has support for it). Wayland support is planned, but only in the future.
