First upgrade in 8 years.
HDMI 2.2 is coming, and the official announcement was made at CES 2025.
According to FlatpanelsHD, this new HDMI version will be capable of up to 96Gbps bandwidth and 16K resolution. It’s the first upgrade to the format since 2.1, which released back in 2017. 2.1 quickly became the standard for current crop of game consoles, the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, among other consumer devices.
Notably, HDMI 2.2 is said to support resolutions such as 4K, 8K, 10K, 12K, and maxes out at 16K, the latter two being completely new to the format. It also features improved bandwidth at 96gbps, double 2.1’s 48gbps. It will also support 4K at 480Hz.
Aside from the specifications, the Ultra96 HDMI cable itself will be available later this year.
2.2 also features the debut of HDMI Latency Indication Protocol (LIP), which is said to reduce the latency between AV devices like TVs and soundbars.
HDMI 2.2 is going to be made available to manufacturers in the first half of 2025.
But what does this really mean for the end user? Well, that’s kind of hard to tell at this point. It’s worth remembering that 2.1 took a good three years before is started to really get devices and displays taking advantage of the technology. Both the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S launched in November of 2020, and it took even longer for it to appear in budget displays and electronics.
The other big issue is that there’s really little call for resolutions above 4K as of right now. Most manufacturers are de-emphasizing their 8K offerings since, aside from gaming (which is still scarce), there are few things that actually take advantage of the resolution. Samsung is pretty much the only manufacturer pushing it, and the price reflects its premium status.
All that said, that’s not going to stop HDMI 2.2’s adoption. There are still a number of benefits to it over its predecessor. That, and it looks enticing to the end user when they see it on the box of a TV or something else.
Source: TechRadar
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