The next big HDMI leap is coming next week – what the 2.2 standard means for you

The HDMI Forum, responsible for developing HDMI technology standards, has announced plans to reveal the new HDMI 2.2 specification at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Jan. 6.

According to the press release, the forthcoming specification will likely be called “HDMI 2.2” and feature new display transfer wizardry that should provide higher bandwidth and a “wide range of higher resolutions and refresh rates.”

Also: The best HDMI cables you can buy

Debuting back in 2002, HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface, in case you ever wondered) has been steadily improving for decades. The current standard, HDMI 2.1b, already supports up to 10K resolution, 120Hz refresh rates, dynamic HDR, and up to 48 Gbps of data transfer bandwidth — and those specs are about to take another great leap forward.

Here’s where I’d love to tell you precisely what the upgraded specs will include, but we’ll have to wait until January to delve into that.

What can we be sure of? A high chance that HDMI 2.2 will approach the capabilities of DisplayPort 2.1 (80 Gbps) and, thereby, a significant opportunity for filmmakers and game developers to produce next-gen quality media for years to come.

Thankfully, we can also expect HDMI 2.2 cables to retain their familiar physical design so they will plug right into all your current devices with full backward compatibility.

Also: How to capture HDMI video on your computer for under $20

Lastly, and most importantly for many users, these cables will likely be more expensive than your standard HDMI — at least in 2025. There’s a price for innovation, folks. Before too long, manufacturers of graphics cards and TVs will adopt the new specification, mitigating the price as HDMI 2.2 becomes the new AV standard.

Stay tuned for more info on HDMI 2.2 tech details, performance capabilities, and price estimates as CES approaches.