FWIW as developers of the browser game engine Construct ( https://www.construct.net/) we want this to be able to optimize 3D rendering in WebGPU. We already use EXT_conservative_depth in the WebGL renderer where available, and this brings the same feature to WebGPU.
Ashley On Tue, 25 Aug 2026 at 04:14, 'dan sinclair' via blink-dev < [email protected]> wrote: > There are signals, but indirectly. Developers have requested having access > to early-z-test ( > https://github.com/gpuweb/gpuweb/issues/4891#issuecomment-3341897141). > But, if you write to the `frag_depth` it will disable the early-z test. > Adding the `less` or `greater` attribute allows the fragment shader to > write to the fragment depth, while maintaining the early-z optimization > because the shader knows you're only writing in the depth in a given > direction. > > So, while developers did not specifically comment on this, it is a > component of providing a comprehensive early-z feature in the future. > > dan > > > On Mon, Aug 24, 2026 at 2:54 PM Alex Russell <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Are there really no signals from developers? Is nobody asking for this? >> >> On Monday, August 24, 2026 at 9:03:33 AM UTC-7 Chromestatus wrote: >> >>> *Contact emails* >>> [email protected] >>> >>> *Explainer* >>> https://github.com/gpuweb/gpuweb/blob/main/proposals/fragment-depth.md >>> >>> *Specification* >>> https://github.com/gpuweb/gpuweb/pull/6299 >>> >>> *Summary* >>> Adds the ability to provide a `less` or `greater` modifier to the >>> `@builtin(frag_depth)` in WGSL. The current `@builtin(frag_depth)` can >>> potentially introduce a performance penalty due to disabling the early-Z >>> optimizations on a draw call. The new modifiers allow the explicit setting >>> of the buffer mode and allow the early-Z optimizations to be applied. >>> >>> *Blink component* >>> Blink>WebGPU >>> <https://issues.chromium.org/issues?q=customfield1222907:%22Blink%3EWebGPU%22> >>> >>> *Web Feature ID* >>> webgpu <https://webstatus.dev/features/webgpu> >>> >>> *Motivation* >>> In the current WGSL specification, the mere act of writing to >>> @builtin(frag_depth) often incurs a significant performance penalty because >>> driver heuristics cannot guarantee that the fragment shader output will >>> adhere to the depth written by the rasterizer's interpolated depth. >>> Consequently, writing to frag_depth typically forces the GPU to disable >>> crucial early-Z optimizations for the entire draw call. The introduction of >>> a new depth_mode built-in parameter for the @builtin(frag_depth) with modes >>> less, and greater directly addressing this performance limitation by >>> letting the developer express their intent to the hardware. >>> >>> *Initial public proposal* >>> https://github.com/gpuweb/gpuweb/blob/main/proposals/fragment-depth.md >>> >>> *TAG review* >>> *No information provided* >>> >>> *TAG review status* >>> Pending >>> >>> *Goals for experimentation* >>> None >>> >>> *Risks* >>> >>> >>> *Interoperability and Compatibility* >>> This feature has been approved in W3C GPU for the Web WG meetings >>> including participants from Safari and Firefox. >>> >>> *Gecko*: No signal (https://github.com/gpuweb/gpuweb/pull/6299) Feedback >>> indicated via WebGPU standardization process. >>> >>> *WebKit*: Positive (https://github.com/gpuweb/gpuweb/pull/6299) >>> Specification >>> approval constitutes a positive signal, per >>> https://github.com/WebKit/standards-positions/issues/294#issuecomment-1877411933 >>> >>> *Web developers*: No signals >>> >>> *Other signals*: >>> >>> *WebView application risks* >>> >>> Does this intent deprecate or change behavior of existing APIs, such >>> that it has potentially high risk for Android WebView-based applications? >>> *No information provided* >>> >>> >>> *Debuggability* >>> *No information provided* >>> >>> *Will this feature be supported on all six Blink platforms (Windows, >>> Mac, Linux, ChromeOS, Android, and Android WebView)?* >>> Yes >>> All platforms will eventually have support. Will immediately be >>> available on Android, Android WebView, ChromeOS, Mac, and Windows, where >>> hardware support is available. Linux is planned to have WebGPU support in >>> the future, so this feature will become available when WebGPU does. >>> >>> *Is this feature fully tested by web-platform-tests >>> <https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/main/docs/testing/web_platform_tests.md>?* >>> Yes >>> WebGPU/WGSL have a conformance test suite (https://github.com/gpuweb/cts) >>> that is regularly pulled into Chromium and part of the testing of Dawn/Tint >>> in Chromium. While the CTS can be embedded in WPT, the WebGPU team opted to >>> keep it separate in Chromium testing to use a customized harness for >>> robustness and performance. * https://github.com/gpuweb/cts/pull/4679 * >>> https://github.com/gpuweb/cts/pull/4689 >>> >>> *Flag name on about://flags* >>> *No information provided* >>> >>> *Finch feature name* >>> WebGPU >>> >>> *Rollout plan* >>> Will ship enabled for all users >>> >>> *Requires code in //chrome?* >>> False >>> >>> *Tracking bug* >>> https://crbug.com/457993779 >>> >>> *Estimated milestones* >>> >>> No milestones specified >>> >>> >>> *Anticipated spec changes* >>> >>> Open questions about a feature may be a source of future web compat or >>> interop issues. Please list open issues (e.g. links to known github issues >>> in the project for the feature specification) whose resolution may >>> introduce web compat/interop risk (e.g., changing to naming or structure of >>> the API in a non-backward-compatible way). >>> *No information provided* >>> >>> *Link to entry on the Chrome Platform Status* >>> https://chromestatus.com/feature/5663304168112128?gate=5657119415205888 >>> >>> This intent message was generated by Chrome Platform Status >>> <https://chromestatus.com>. >>> >> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "blink-dev" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/blink-dev/CAMYH%3DOjE5-Yj2G7mX%2B50RANTVgxuCPyon3-yDgEPgskbQddwWQ%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/blink-dev/CAMYH%3DOjE5-Yj2G7mX%2B50RANTVgxuCPyon3-yDgEPgskbQddwWQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "blink-dev" group. 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