edid-decode

edid-decode [options] [in [out]]

edid-decode decodes Extended Display Identification Data (EDID) from monitors and displays it in human-readable form. It supports EDID 1.3/1.4, DisplayID 1.3/2.1, HDMI and CTA-861 extension blocks, and related VESA/CTA standards.If in is omitted or is -, the EDID is read from standard input. Input may be raw binary or ASCII text; the tool scans for hex dumps and also recognizes formats from edid-decode itself, xrandr property output, and Xorg log files. On modern Linux systems with kernel modesetting, connected-display EDIDs are available as **/sys/class/drm/\*/edid**.If out is given, the tool writes the EDID (converted as requested) and skips the decoding step. By default stdout gets a hex dump and a file path gets raw binary. Timing lines are shown in short form (resolution, refresh, pixel clock) with optional long porch/sync detail for detailed timings.

-h, --help

Print help message.

When writing out, use format fmt: hex (default for stdout), raw (default for files), carray, or xml.

Validate the EDID against known standards; report warnings and failures at the end.

Same checks as --check, reported as they are found.

Report the native resolution at the end (may differ across Block 0, CTA, and DisplayID blocks).

Report preferred timings at the end.

Assume a display diagonal of inches for image-size consistency checks (square pixels).

Print only the HDMI CEC Source Physical Address (or f.f.f.f if missing/unparseable). Useful with cec-ctl.

Show all video timings in short format.

Show all video timings in long format (porch/sync detail).

Prefer NTSC-style rates (e.g. 29.97 Hz instead of 30) for multiples of 6 Hz.

Format long timings as xorg.conf ModeLine strings for xrandr --newmode.

Format long timings as fb.modes video modes.

Format long timings for V4L2 VIDIOC_S_DV_TIMINGS.

Omit the initial hex dump of the EDID.

Print only the hex dump and exit.

Do not print the git SHA of the edid-decode build in the output.

Replace serial numbers in the human-readable section with "...".

Show build SHA and last commit date.

Timing calculators/lookups (no EDID decode required for most of these). See the full man page for argument forms.

List known timing tables.

Not every EDID field is fully decoded. Standards validation is best-effort and may not match every standards-body interpretation. Output format is not stable across versions. Prefer reading **/sys/class/drm/\*/edid over legacy BIOS/VBE methods when kernel modesetting is available. Serial numbers remain visible in the hex dump even with --hide-serial-numbers**.

edid-decode was originally written by Adam Jackson, with later contributions from Eric Anholt, Damien Lespiau, Hans Verkuil, and others. Maintenance and the primary repository moved to the LinuxTV project under git.linuxtv.org.

get-edid(1), xrandr(1), Xorg(1), cec-ctl(1)

Source code