During CES 2025 in Las Vegas, the HDMI Forum announced HDMI 2.2. It will deliver 96Gbps of bandwidth and resolutions up to 16K, in some cases doubling HDMI 2.1. New cables will be developed to support the new technology, dubbed Ultra96.
   

When it comes to HDMI, the last big change was in 2017 with the unveiling of HDMI 2.1. At the time, it could deliver 48Gbps and up to 10K resolution. Additionally, it also supported 8K HDR and introduced Dynamic HDR plus 8K at 60Hz and 4K at 120Hz.

HDMI 2.2 – features

With the introduction of HDMI 2.2 by the HDMI Forum, the data transfer capability was doubled from 48 to 96Gbps. It also supports resolutions up to 16K plus 12K at 120Hz and 4K at 480Hz. The new HDMI Fixed Rate Link (FRL) technology is behind the new video and audio support. To take advantage of the HDMI 2.2 protocol, new Ultra96 cables will be developed.

It also features lip sync improvements with the Latency Indication Protocol (appropriately dubbed, LIP). This will be particularly useful for home theater systems that are connected to sound bars, receivers, and other devices, where there are potential sound sync issues.

The HDMI Forum also explained how the new 2.2 protocol will benefit VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality), and MR (mixed reality, or ‘spatial computing,’ per Apple). If you’re filming this type of content, HDMI 2.2 will help with delivery.

With cameras pushing the envelope in terms of resolution, there needs to be a way to deliver that data. DisplayPort 2.1 supports up to 80Gbps with the UHBR 20 transmission mode, and the HDMI 2.2 delivers up to 96Gbps. New monitors are supporting higher resolutions and 8K TVs are slowly becoming the norm after years of 4K dominance.

Availability

HDMI 2.2 technology will be available to ‘HDMI adopters,’ the TV and cable manufacturers, in the first half of 2025. The question is, will TVs and other devices be far behind? Considering that the first TVs with HDMI 2.1 showed up two years later in 2019, it could be a little bit of a waiting period for 2.2 to become a new standard. But AV technology continues to be rapidly developed, and we may see more than just Ultra96 cables announced sooner rather than later.