- HDMI 2.2’s bandwidth is up from 48 Gbps to 96 Gbps
- Uncompressed 4K at 240Hz and 8K at 60Hz – or compressed 4K at 480Hz and 8K 240Hz
- Not all gates labeled HDMI 2.2 has to support the full spec
It’s official: HDMI 2.2 specification has been published, which means manufacturers can start building it for their products. You can’t see it right away – there is a fair delay between a new spec that is published and the appropriate hardware that makes it production – but it promises some great improvements and some minor irritations.
The good news first: Provided you have an Ultra96 cable, you can take advantage of bandwidth of 96 Gbps compared to HDMI 2.1B’s 48 Gbps.
The bad news: Just because an HDMI port says “Ultra96” on it doesn’t mean you get 96 Gbps because it would be too easy.
Why HDMI 2.2 doesn’t necessarily mean you get upgraded everything
As Flatpanelshd reports if a cable says it is Ultra96 certified, it must deliver 96 Gbps. But if a device’s HDMI 2.2 port says Ultra96, it doesn’t. It can be 80 Gbps or 64 Gbps.
This is because with HDMI 2.2, manufacturers can stick the brand 2.2 / Ultra96 on their products, although these products do not support all parts of the standard.
It’s pretty reminiscent of USB-C: Just because something has a USB-C connector doesn’t mean it supports anyone or all the important features you might expect it to.
However, the specen is impressive. In addition to better AV unit synchronization via latency indication protocol and support for uncompressed 4K 240Hz and 8K 60Hz, there are DSC 1.2A signal compression for even higher resolution formats of up to 16k-self it requires display and its video/audio source to support both HDMI 2.2 and DSC 1.2A, and laughter is election. And of course, it also takes creators to commit to doing things in 16k as well.
As for when you can actually get HDMI 2.2 products, it will hopefully happen faster than the two-year gap between HDMI 2.1’s announcement and arrival. But even on a faster schedule, you probably look at HDMI 2.2 TVs, which will only appear at the end of 2026 or early 2027.
