The HDMI Forum has officially released the HDMI 2.2 specification to manufacturers, following its initial announcement at CES 2025. This update brings a significant increase in bandwidth and resolution support, with the first Ultra96 HDMI cables capable of up to 96Gbps expected later this year.
Current HDMI 2.1 cables support bandwidths up to 48Gbps, accommodating resolutions up to 10K at refresh rates up to 120Hz for 4K content. HDMI 2.2 doubles this capacity, enabling:
- 4K video at 480Hz
- 8K video at 240Hz
- 10K video at 120Hz
- 16K video at 60Hz
Additionally, HDMI 2.2 supports uncompressed video formats with 10-bit and 12-bit color depth at 8K resolution and 60Hz, as well as 4K at 240Hz.
Despite these advancements, native 8K content remains scarce, and adoption of 16K is unlikely in the near term. Since HDMI 2.1 has been available since 2017 but is not fully utilized by manufacturers, HDMI 2.2 aims to future-proof the standard for upcoming content and hardware improvements.
The new specification also addresses consumer clarity by introducing the Ultra96 cable designation. This name clearly indicates support for the HDMI 2.2 standard and its 96Gbps bandwidth, improving upon the existing cable labels like Standard, High Speed, and Ultra High Speed.
HDMI 2.2 incorporates the Latency Indication Protocol (LIP), announced earlier this year. LIP enhances audio and video synchronization, building on improvements from HDMI 2.1, especially in systems where audio signals route through devices such as soundbars or AV receivers before reaching display units.