- More TVs are set to get up to four HDMI 2.1 ports in 2025
- Mediatek’s new 800-series chip will allow more than two HDMI 2.1 ports
- Hisense is the first brand to confirm it will benefit from this upgrade
More TVs are set to get up to four HDMI 2.1 ports in 2025 thanks to Mediatek’s latest chip, paving the way for new models to join the ranks of the best gaming TVs.
HDMI 2.1 allows for up to 4K, 120Hz for gaming consoles, such as the PS5 and Xbox Series X, (4K, 165Hz for PC gaming) and enhanced audio (eARC) formats, such as Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, in TVs.
LG and Samsung, makers of some of the best TVs, already have four HDMI 2.1 ports on a large portion of their TVs, such as the LG C4 OLED and Samsung Q80D. Combining this with their extensive gaming features, LG and Samsung are often the best gaming TVs on the market.
LG and Samsung use a different chip from Mediatek, whose chips until now have been limited to two HDMI 2.1 ports, meaning those with multiple consoles and one of the best soundbars have had to look elsewhere or swap cables around.
As reported by FlatpanelsHD, however, Mediatek’s latest chip, the Pentonic 800, allows for up to four HDMI 2.1 ports. Hisense is the first brand other than LG or Samsung to confirm that some of its 2025 TVs will have four HDMI 2.1 ports, including the 116-inch UX RGB mini-LED and the U9Q and U8Q, which were all announced at CES 2025. The news was highlighted by Vincent Teoh on X (formerly Twitter):
BREAKING: Hisense’s higher-end 2025 TVs (MicroLED TVs, 116UX, U9Q, U8Q, U7Q Pro) announced at #ces2025 will use the Mediatek Pentonic 800 chipset, paving the way for 4x full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports with FRL signalling, as well as 4K 165Hz VRR support. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/M4YD0BNCIXJanuary 13, 2025
It’s suggested that some of Hisense’s models will support 4K, 165Hz, much like the LG G5 OLED and Samsung S95F OLED, both brands’ respective flagship OLED TVs.
It’s also worth noting that in some markets, some of Hisense’s sets will have three HDMI 2.1 ports and the fourth will be replaced by a USB-C DisplayPort for PC gaming.
More competition in gaming TVs
When we look for the best gaming TVs here at TechRadar, having four HDMI 2.1 ports is a big plus point. This allows gamers to have multiple consoles and a soundbar connected without the need to swap any connections, which can be difficult if you have your TV wall-mounted for example.
This is why LG and Samsung have often dominated the gaming TV market, despite brands like Hisense, TCL, Panasonic, Sony and Philips all offering an excellent array of gaming features such as 4K, 120Hz (sometimes 4K, 144Hz), VRR, ALLM and Dolby Vision gaming (something Samsung doesn’t offer).
With Mediatek’s new Pentonic 800 chip however, this gives these other brands a chance to catch up to LG and Samsung, making the battleground for gaming TVs in 2025 that much more competitive. And when there’s more competitiveness between brands, it’s only good news for us.
LG and Samsung TVs do still generally offer better performance, thanks to lower input lag times compared to the likes of Hisense, TCL, and others, so we’ll have to wait and see whether these other brands can offer this as well as more HDMI 2.1 ports. We can’t get wait to get testing, that’s for sure!
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james.davidson@futurenet.com (James Davidson)
