- The HDMI 2.2 specification has been announced at CES 2025
- HDMI 2.2 can support up to 96Gbps bandwidth and 16K resolution
- It follows on from HDMI 2.1, which was first announced in 2017
The HDMI 2.2 specification has been officially announced at CES 2025 by HDMI Forum Inc, and it’s said to deliver up to 96Gbps bandwidth and 16K resolution, as reported by FlatpanelsHD.
After initial reports in December suggesting HDMI 2.2’s reveal at CES 2025, HDMI Forum Inc officially announced the new HDMI specification at the tech event. It’s the successor to HDMI 2.1, which was first announced in January 2017 but first came to prominence in 2020 and 2021, when it began to appear more commonly on gaming consoles such as the PS5 and Xbox Series X, and on TVs such as the LG OLED CX.
HDMI – which stands for High Definition Media Interface – is a commonly used connection port that you’ll find on displays such as the best TVs and the best monitors. It enables connection between said displays and other audio-visual devices, such as the best 4K Blu-ray players and best soundbars, and gaming consoles.
HDMI 2.2 is said to support a multitude of resolutions including 4K, 8K, 10K, 12K and even 16K, the latter two of which are new for HDMI 2.2. It will also have improved bandwidth, reaching 96gbps compared with HDMI 2.1’s 48gbps and DisplayPort’s 80gbps. HDMI 2.2 will also support 4K at 480Hz.
Alongside the HDMI 2.2 specification reveal, HDMI also confirmed that the Ultra96 HDMI cable, which supports 96gbps and HDMI 2.2 features, will be available later in 2025.
Also introduced is HDMI Latency Indication Protocol (LIP), which is said to improve synchronization between audio and video devices such as AV receivers or soundbars and TVs.
HDMI 2.2 is set to be available to supporting manufacturers, such as TV and display brands, in the first half of 2025.
What does HDMI 2.2 mean for TVs and gaming devices?
So what does HDMI 2.2 mean for TVs and gaming devices, and when are we likely to see it? The answers: currently, not much; and not very soon. Although HDMI 2.2 will be available in 2025, it’ll take manufacturers some time to actually implement the tech into their devices.
It took HDMI 2.1 between three and five years to go from announcement to implementation, and it’s only now commonly found in more budget displays after initially appearing in more premium devices such as the best OLED TVs. It wouldn’t be surprising if HDMI 2.2 runs to a similar timeframe.
Although HDMI 2.2 will support higher resolutions, such as 8K (at 240Hz compared with HDMI 2.1’s 8K, 60Hz) and apparently even 16K, the problem is the lack of devices available that will support it. 8K TVs are seeing their popularity wane, with many manufacturers abandoning the premium display tech. Only Samsung really flies the 8K flag each year. This is due to premium price tags, and the fact that there are very few 8K movies or TV shows to take advantage of the 8K display.
8K gaming is more readily available than movies or TV shows, with the PS5 Pro and some of the best graphics cards, such as the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE, and even the newly announced Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, supporting 8K resolution, but the number of 8K games (especially at higher frame rates) is scare. Plus, you’d need some powerful and pricey gear to run them.
But do expect to see HDMI 2.2 in future spec lists. While manufacturers won’t get the full potential out of HDMI 2.2 for a while, it serves as an excellent marketing tool. HDMI 2.1 is common on the best gaming TVs now, both premium and budget – so listing HDMI 2.2 as a new feature sounds more enticing.
HDMI 2.2 will be the future of TVs and gaming, even if is still likely a few years away, especially before the full benefits can be widely enjoyed. It’s not looking like we’re getting 10K out of HDMI 2.1 any time soon, so expect 12K and 16K from HDMI 2.2 to be a ways off.
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james.davidson@futurenet.com (James Davidson)
