Just as theorized, new HDMI specifications have arrived for 2025. The HDMI Forum, Inc. used the excitement around the Consumer Electronic Show to provide consumers with a few of the HDMI 2.2 bandwidth specs and other features and updates in relation to the upcoming upgrade.
The new HDMI 2.2 support has been a long time coming, and while consumers are worried about what this will mean for them and their devices, the impact on the user level will take a while to proliferate.
“The HDMI Forum’s continuing mission is to develop specifications to meet the HDMI eco-system’s growing demand for high-performance capabilities and features,” Chandlee Harrell, president of the HDMI Forum, said in the statement. “This new specification supports the fast-evolving landscape for amazing new technologies and products entering the markets now and in the future.”
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New HDMI Specification Have Been Announced for 2025
Over time 4K and 8K displays have been gaining popularity, as evidenced by the new TVs Samsung announced at CES 2025. As such, advanced support for such data transfer and processing has been made apparent, so the new, well-timed HDMI specification in 2025 marks a big step forward for technology.
The new HDMI 2.2 supports bandwidths of up to 96 Gbps, taking it a step above the 48 Gbps connectors we’ve seen with HDMI 2.1. You may also be happy to know that the new Ultra96 HDMI cable is not changing the form factor in a way that will impede its use. Such structural consistency makes it easier to transition to, although system support for such connections may not always be so automatic.
“Higher 96 Gbps bandwidth and next-gen HDMI Fixed Rate Link technology provide optimal audio and video for a wide range of device applications,” the press release states. Higher quality video connectivity without lags and degradations in quality appears to be the primary purpose of the upgraded cable, but it could also be a step forward in HDMI for extended reality applications.
Image: Ultra96 HDMI cable
HDMI 2.2 Features and Updates
With the improved HDMI 2.2 bandwidth specs, there is talk of improved applications for “AR/VR/MR, spatial reality and light field displays as well as various commercial applications such as large scale digital signage, medical imaging, and machine vision.” The additional bandwidth will award tech makers additional room to experiment with the technology available to provide more advanced mechanisms and integrations.
The new specification is expected to support resolutions up to 16K. HDMI 2.2’s bandwidth specs will make 4K resolution available at 120 Hz, 8K at 240 Hz, and 10K at 120 Hz without the need for display stream compression (DSC).
With support from the Latency Indication Protocol (LIP), improvements in audio and video synchronization will also contribute to the overall experience of technological sophistication. Multi-device setups will be the ones to benefit the most from this integration.
The full list of official specs and details for interested HDMI 2.x Adopters will only be released in H1 2025, so consumers do not have to worry about being left behind by the technology. As we’ve discussed before, a new standard does not mean that all old tech will become redundant upon its release.
As fascinating as the release of the new HDMI specification is, in 2025, we’ll only begin to see early adopters reach out to fully evaluate the technology and its potential before they get started with integrating it into their services. We haven’t yet been accustomed to 8K resolution so the need for 12K adoption is quite a distance away.