Advancing Mainline Support for Rockchip RK3588 Video Capture and ISP

The integration of dedicated IP blocks for video capture and image signal processing in recent Rockchip SoCs, particularly the RK3588, offers a plethora of multimedia application possibilities. However, mainline Linux support for these features has lagged, prompting Collabora to spearhead efforts to bridge this gap. Over the years, significant strides have been made, with the RK3588 upstream status matrix and various community contributions marking progress. Despite these advancements, video capture blocks and ISPs remain challenging due to limited documentation and complex hardware, often leading users to rely on vendor kernels, which pose compliance risks.

Collabora's journey to support the RK3588 VICAP unit began in earnest in 2022, involving extensive collaboration and numerous iterations of the rkcif driver. This culminated in a major milestone when basic driver support for the PX30 VIP and RK3568 VICAP was accepted into mainline Linux in 2025. Yet, challenges persist, such as the need for a mainline driver for the Rockchip MIPI CSI-2 receiver unit, which was eventually integrated in early 2026.

The next steps involve addressing three critical issues: supporting the RK3588 VICAP MUX-TOISP unit, developing a new rkisp2 driver for the RK3588 ISP, and enhancing libcamera support for the RK3588 image processing pipeline. Initial testing of the VICAP MUX-TOISP unit has shown promise, though integration into mainline Linux will take time. Meanwhile, Rockchip has provided a basic ISP driver to aid hardware bringup, with plans for a comprehensive rkisp2 driver underway.

Collabora, Rockchip, and Ideas on Board are collaborating to achieve full ISP support, with initial successes reported in image processing block bring-up. While users can temporarily rely on libcamera's software ISP, the ultimate goal is a fully integrated RK3588 ISP kernel driver and libcamera support. Enthusiasts can look forward to a demonstration at the upcoming Embedded Recipes event.