HDMI 2.2 is set to arrive in TVs and monitors next year, bringing uncompressed 4K at ridiculous frame rates — here's what to expect from the next-gen connector, and who it's actually most useful for | Tech Radar
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HDMI 2.2 is set to arrive in TVs and monitors next year, bringing uncompressed 4K at ridiculous frame rates — here's what to expect from the next-gen connector, and who it's actually most useful for
HDMI 2.2 is going to be great for gaming but most of us won't need to rush to replace our TVs or other AV devices
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The first HDMI 2.2 products are likely to arrive in 2027
Massively increased bitrates with 4K 480 Hz support, or 10K resolution
Great for PC gaming, but won't make much difference to TV viewers
HDMI 2.2 is coming, and it could be a very big deal for gamers. That's because it delivers double the bandwidth of HDMI 2.1: up to 96 Gbps.
That means HDMI 2.2 is capable of delivering uncompressed 4K at up to 240 Hz (current HDMI can only do this using Display Stream Compression, aka DSC) or uncompressed 4K at 480 Hz with 4:2:0 chroma subsampling, and it can also deliver uncompressed RGB 8K at 60 Hz. And using DSC, it's capable of delivering 1440p at rates exceeding 1,000 Hz.
There is an important qualifier, though: devices can be HDMI 2.2 certified without delivering the very fastest data speeds, so you'll need to study the spec sheets of any potential purchases.
As Flatpanels HD reports, the HDMI organization expects the first HDMI 2.2 devices to go on sale in 2027; testing and certification are already taking place.
According to Rob Tobias, CEO and president of the HDMI Licensing Administrator, "We're hearing chip manufacturers will start to sample their FRL2 [Fixed Rate Link, the signalling technology used by HDMI] chips this year. And so we should start to see some 96 or up to 96 gigabit HDMI 2.2 products next year."
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HDMI 2.2 is very fast, but many gamers are already using high-speed Display Port in their setups (Image credit: Shutterstock / Isham Ismail)
The specifications are impressive, though it'll be available in three flavors, all of which are faster than HDMI 2.1: 64 Gbps, 80 Gbps and 96 Gbps.
The performance for gaming is particularly impressive, but we already have Display Port 2.1 at up to 80 Gbps in many of the best gaming monitors so there isn't a hugely pressing need to upgrade. And HDMI requires licensing fees that are likely to be higher than for Display Port.
Chances are if you're into high-end gaming hardware you've already gone down the Display Port route, especially if you have a multi-monitor setup, but HDMI 2.2 should mean more choice among premium displays.
HDMI has more benefits in living rooms, thanks to features such as ARC (Audio Return Channel), CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) and ALLM (Auto Low-Latency Mode), so it's conceivable that the Play Station 6 could embrace the higher bitrates of HDMI 2.2 — although games only rarely achieve the 4K 120 Hz that's already achievable over HDMI 2.1, and we're not sure that's going to really change with the PS6.
But some 4K 240 Hz games might be possible, and the best gaming TVs might offer the refresh rate to support it, so there may be some benefit for the most hardcore. For most living room uses, though, HDMI 2.1 is probably overkill — it's really best for PC connectivity when it comes to the pure data rate.
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However, there's another benefit to HDMI 2.2: LIP, which stands for Latency Indication Protocol. LIP improves sound syncing on home theater setups, such as soundbars or AV receivers — this can be a pretty common problem with even the best soundbars, so we'll be keeping an eye on how well this works.
For most of us, I think HDMI 2.2 is generally something to keep an eye on rather than something to demand as soon as it debuts. HDMI 2.2 has been made with 10K resolution in mind, but the vast majority of commercial and streaming video tops out at 4K.
It's something to think about when buying new AV hardware in the future (there's good chance we'll need to wait for 2028's CES for widespread adoption in TVs), but initially at least, it'll be more about marketing than real-world benefits for most of us.
And bear in mind that HDMI adoption is really driven by the companies that provide the connection hardware.
Even today, not all high-end TVs have four HDMI 2.1 ports, because the most powerful processing chips used by many manufacturers don't support this. Some lower-tier TVs from the same makers do, because those chips have more up-to-date HDMI control elements — it's a bit of a mess. I suspect HDMI 2.2 will have the same kind of slightly chaotic support.
On PCs, we'll be relying on GPUs to support the tech, and new models aren't expected until late 2027 or after that — so there's a good chance of seeing HDMI 2.2 on them. But like HDMI 2.1, it'll probably launch on the highest-end models first.
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Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than twenty books. Her latest, a love letter to music titled Small Town Joy, is on sale now. She is the singer in spectacularly obscure Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind.
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