Re: [PATCH v4] dt-bindings: leds: Add default-intensity property

Stefan Wahren <[email protected]> Thu, 16 Jul 2026 11:07:28 +0200
Newsgroups org.kernel.vger.linux-leds,org.kernel.vger.linux-devicetree,org.kernel.vger.linux-kernel
Message-ID <[email protected]>
Hi Jonas,

Am 16.07.26 um 09:31 schrieb Jonas Rebmann:
> Hi Stefan,
>
> On 2026-07-15 18:55, Stefan Wahren wrote:
>> Am 14.07.26 um 09:35 schrieb Jonas Rebmann:
>>> +  default-intensity:
>>> +    description:
>>> +      The initial intensity of the LED color component. As the 
>>> intensity of
>>> +      each sub-LED is multiplied by the overall brightness, without 
>>> this
>>> +      property on a sub-LED, it may effectively be initialized at a 
>>> brightness
>>> +      of 0 regardless of its linux,default-trigger and 
>>> default-brightness
>>> +      properties.
>> I have some reservations about the wording. It isn't wrong, but in my
>> view, it isn't entirely clear that the initial value depends on the
>> implementation.
>>
>> Maybe something like this?
>>
>> without this property on a sub-LED, the initial intensity value depends
>> on the implementation regardless of its linux,default-trigger and
>> default-brightness properties.
>
> I wrote the sentence as a warning: You would rightfully expect that
> turning an LED on, at maximum brightness would in fact turn on the LED
> regardless of the driver. But beware: default-intensity may be needed to
> produce the expected behavior.
>
> To me, this is the important (surprising) piece of information.
I totally agree with this and this wasn't my point.
>
> How about:
>
> The initial intensity of the LED color component. As the intensity of
> each sub-LED is multiplied by the overall brightness, without this
> property on a sub-LED, it will be initialized at a brightness of 0
> regardless of its linux,default-trigger and default-brightness
> properties, for drivers with initial intensity values of 0.
IMO the mention of "0" suggests a driver behavior, which this generic DT 
binding can never guarantee and it confuses more than it helps.
I think in absence of default-intensity the user should consider the 
initial value as undefined. The value depend on the driver 
implementation. So I think we should avoid mention any specific values 
in this case.

Best regards
>
>>> +    $ref: /schemas/types.yaml#/definitions/uint32
>>> +
>>>      panic-indicator:
>>>        description:
>>>          This property specifies that the LED should be used, if at 
>>> all possible,
>>> diff --git 
>>> a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/leds/leds-pwm-multicolor.yaml 
>>> b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/leds/leds-pwm-multicolor.yaml
>>> index a31a202afe5c..08e28c5f08a8 100644
>>> --- a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/leds/leds-pwm-multicolor.yaml
>>> +++ b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/leds/leds-pwm-multicolor.yaml
>>> @@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ properties:
>>>                 color: true
>>>    +          default-intensity:
>>> +            default: 0
>>> +
>
>