The HDMI Forum, which oversees the HDMI specification, officially announced HDMI version 2.2 on Monday. This latest version promises increased bandwidth and aims to greatly enhance audio latency performance. Continue reading to discover the changes brought about by the new HDMI 2.2 protocol.
What’s new with HDMI 2.2
“The mission of the HDMI Forum is to develop specifications to meet the HDMI ecosystem’s growing needs for high-performance capabilities and features,” commented Chandlee Harrell, president of the HDMI Forum. “This new specification is designed to support the rapidly evolving landscape of innovative technologies and products that are emerging now and in the future.”
HDMI 2.2 arrives nearly eight years after HDMI 2.1, which introduced support for 4K120 and 8K60 resolutions.
This updated protocol boosts bandwidth up to 96Gbps, making it perfect for AR/VR devices that require substantial data transfer. The HDMI Forum notes that this higher bandwidth also facilitates “various commercial applications including large-scale digital signage, medical imaging, and machine vision.”
Even for those without AR/VR equipment, HDMI 2.2 has features that will appeal to many users. Among them is the new Latency Indication Protocol (LIP), which enhances audio and video synchronization, thus significantly reducing audio latency—especially when using an audio video receiver or soundbar. Furthermore, HDMI 2.2 supports higher resolutions and refresh rates.
However, it will take some time before HDMI 2.2 devices become available on the market as the standard is not set for adoption until early 2025. Given that HDMI 2.1 already supports resolutions such as 4K at 120Hz, most consumers might not feel an urgent need to upgrade.
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