HDMI 2.2 Explained – Bandwidth, Specs and All the Parts They Don’t Tell You

Introduction

After the initial spec was announced at CES in January, the HDMI-org have now formally launched the final details for their forthcoming HDMI 2.2 specification as of late June 2025. It’s an update to the existing HDMI 2.1 spec which will offer support for higher bandwidths, support future display specs with higher resolutions and refresh rates, offer improvements to audio/visual sync and launch a new cable standard too.

With the spec now finalised, this moves things on from the initial conceptual stage to a formal spec that device and display manufacturers can now start to consider, although don’t expect HDMI 2.2-capable graphics cards or monitors to be released any time particularly soon. We’ll take a look at what the final spec is, what we can expect from this new connection, go over the headlines that you’ve probably read elsewhere by now, and provide our expectations around availability and timescales.

The parts they don’t tell you in the press release!

But perhaps most importantly we will also go over some of the issues that could arise with the adoption of HDMI 2.2, explain what you need to look out for in the future and how you can identify a “true” HDMI 2.2 device and avoid some of the misleading or “fake” HDMI 2.2 devices that might be launched.

We’ll also uncover the bits of the spec that you probably won’t have heard about so far, and that haven’t really been widely discussed anywhere amongst all the common repeating of the press release and launch headlines. You may have already heard about the new speeds and cables, that information is published everywhere – but there’s quite a lot you probably won’t realise, which we will unpick here in this article.

Double the Bandwidth, Now up to 96Gbps

Let’s start with the headlines you’ve probably seen already about the new spec, with the main one being that the new HDMI 2.2 spec includes double the potential bandwidth of current HDMI 2.1, taking it from 48Gbps to 96Gbps. This also exceeds the bandwidth of DisplayPort 2.1 which can support up to 80Gbps.

For those interested in the technical detail, the new spec continues to use FRL (Fixed Rate Link) like HDMI 2.1 did before, with 4 data channels (“lanes”) available, a 16b/18b encoding scheme and 88.8% efficiency. That means up to ~85.25 Gbps data rate available from the 96 Gbps bandwidth to power future displays and devices. VESA Display Stream Compression v1.2a (DSC 1.2a) is available as well.

	HDMI version
	1.4	2.0	2.1	2.2
Max bandwidth (Gbps)	10.2	18.0	48.0	96.0
Max data rate (Gbps)	8.16	14.4	42.6	85.25
Data channels (lanes)	3	3	4	4
Encoding scheme	TMDS	TMDS	FRL	FRL
Encoding efficiency	80%	80%	88.8%	88.8%
Compression	–	–	DSC 1.2a	DSC 1.2a

We will look at the potential future display specs that this new bandwidth can support in a lot more detail later, but it will allow manufacturers to offer two sought after options. Firstly it will support higher res/refresh rate combinations using an uncompressed video signal (i.e. without needing DSC), and secondly it will offer loads of room for compressed video signals using DSC, going beyond even the top-tier DisplayPort 2.1 connections available today which have 80Gbps max bandwidth.

A New ‘Ultra96’ Cable

The new HDMI 2.2 spec will require a new certified cable which will officially be called an ‘Ultra96’ cable (or sometimes “U96” for short). The physical connector is the same, and these cables will be backwards compatible with previous HDMI versions. But you will need one of these new cables to support the new spec and speeds if connected between end-to-end HDMI 2.2-compatible devices.

The new Ultra96 cables will also be a part of the HDMI Cable Certification Program which requires each length of a cable offered by a company to be tested in order to carry the certification badge, which gives consumers added assurance that the cable will work properly. Not only will that test for bandwidth compatibility but it will also be tested and certified to ensure low EMI, to reduce the possibility of interference with wireless networks, streaming media players, Bluetooth devices and mobile phones.

The existing ‘Ultra High Speed HDMI cable’ remains appropriate for HDMI 2.1 connections and bandwidths up to 48 Gbps. Perhaps it would be sensible to rename that cable certification as ‘Ultra48’ though to avoid confusion? ‘Ultra High Speed’ is a bit generic. Note also that HDMI-org define the Ultra High Speed (48 Gbps) cable as a Category 3 cable, while the new ‘Ultra96’ cable is a Category 4 cable.

Maximum cable length

The maximum length of Ultra96 cables is not provided on the HDMI-forum website, they instead say that “the specification does not indicate a cable length. Cable length depends on many factors including cable type and construction.” and that “the specification permits wire, passive, active, and converter Category 3 and Category 4 cable assemblies.”

The first Ultra96 cables are expected to be available in the second half of 2025 so time will tell if there’s any cable length challenges like there were with the early phases of DisplayPort 2.1 adoption. We’d expect so.

The bits they don’t tell you

So that’s the two key headlines you will see discussed everywhere when HDMI 2.2 is covered – 1) new, higher bandwidth up to 96 Gbps, double that of the previous spec, and 2) a new ‘Ultra96’ cable to support that. What about the bits they don’t tell you in the press release, and the bits not covered widely when HDMI 2.2 is being promoted?

HDMI 2.2 Spec replaces the HDMI 2.1 Spec
A device labelled as ‘HDMI 2.2’ doesn’t necessarily tell you anything

This is where it starts to get messy and potentially very confusing for an average consumer. If you’re familiar with what happened with HDMI 2.1 when it was released several years ago then this may not come as a surprise. Like with that spec at the time, the new HDMI 2.2 replaces the previous HDMI 2.1 spec, just like HDMI 2.1 had replaced HDMI 2.0. We’ll talk more about why this is a problem in a moment.

The new bandwidths are “optional”

We confirmed this with the HDMI-org as well, but the new bandwidths up to 96 Gbps – marketed so heavily for the HDMI 2.2 spec – are optional. Since the HDMI 2.2 spec replaces the previous HDMI 2.1 spec, that means that a device could be labelled and marketed as “HDMI 2.2” but actually not even offer any speed benefit over the older connections! They could just as well support only the 48 Gbps bandwidth from the older HDMI 2.1 connection, or in fact only the 14.4 Gbps of the HDMI 2.0 connection.

We were told that manufacturers should list the bandwidth they support with the connection, although this is not a requirement. It’s left to the manufacturers discretion as to whether they advertise the supported bandwidth or not which seems like it has the potential to be confusing if not followed.

There’s actually 3 new bandwidths, not 1

This is only vaguely mentioned in a few places on the HDMI.org website and documentation, but the new HDMI 2.2 spec actually supports 3 potential bandwidth tiers above the older 48 Gbps of HDMI 2.1. There’s 64 Gbps, 80 Gbps and the headline top speed of 96 Gbps.

New HDMI 2.2 bandwidths = 64, 80 and 96Gbps

There’s no specific naming convention for these tiers like there is on DisplayPort 2.1 with their “UHBR” tiers, they’re just referred to by bandwidth. As we said above, these new bandwidths are optional, and it’s down to a device manufacturer to indicate which of these bandwidths (if any) their device supports.

The ‘Ultra96’ branding doesn’t necessarily mean a device supports 96 Gbps either

The HDMI-org have introduced a new ‘Ultra96 feature name’ which can be used to promote both HDMI 2.2 cables and devices. This branding is helpful in two ways but also doesn’t necessarily represent what you might expect in some cases.

Firstly it’s a useful branding that can be used to identify the new cables which can support anything up to the maximum 96 Gbps spec. At the moment there’s only one cable that has been tested and certified to support the speeds above 48 Gbps and that’s the ‘Ultra96’ cable. Below that is the current ‘Ultra High Speed HDMI cable’ used for HDMI 2.1 devices that is certified up to 48 Gbps.

‘Ultra96’ cables support all bandwidths up to the full 96 Gbps

Secondly the ‘Ultra96’ branding can also be used to promote device connections, and thankfully it can only be used to market a device which supports above the old 48 Gbps of HDMI 2.1. So, a device must support one of the new higher HDMI 2.2 speeds to be marketed with this branding which is a start. However, counter-intuitively given the name, it does not mean that the device will support the full 96 Gbps. Manufacturers are allowed to use the ‘Ultra96 feature name’ for devices that support any speed above 48 Gbps, so a device marketed as ‘Ultra96’ could just as only support 64 Gbps, 80 Gbps, or perhaps something else altogether.

Devices labelled ‘Ultra96’ only need to support a speed above 48 Gbps,
not necessarily 96 Gbps as the name implies

Special features remain optional

All the special features that you associate with HDMI 2.1 (and now HDMI 2.2) remain optional as well, as they were when the HDMI 2.1 spec was released. Those include Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), Quick Frame Transport (QFT), Quick Media Switching (QMS) and Enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC) sound support.

It is down to the manufacturers to list which features they support, if any. As with HDMI 2.1 before this does create the potential for confusion and abuse if manufacturers are not transparent about what features they support.

Latency Indication Protocol for Improved Audio/Visual Sync

One other promoted new benefit from the HDMI 2.2 spec is the support for “LIP” (Latency Indication Protocol) which should apparently help improve lip-sync and audio/visual sync further. This too is an “optional” feature that should be listed by the manufacturer if it’s supported.

Potential abuse and “fake” HDMI 2.2 devices

This all means that any future HDMI 2.x device could technically be labelled as “HDMI 2.2” as that’s now the only formal spec available. In fact they are probably supposed to be labelled as HDMI 2.2. As there was last time, there’s the potential here for abuse of this situation from manufacturers labelling their connections as HDMI 2.2 when actually they support none of the features a consumer might expect it to support based on all the marketing and promotion of this new spec.

All the new speeds above the old 48 Gbps are optional. All the special features and capabilities are optional. Even a device with 14.4 Gbps of bandwidth and the limited capabilities from HDMI 2.0 could, by the letter, be marketed as HDMI 2.2 now that this new spec has replaced the specs before it! You can’t make any assumptions about a device’s capabilities if it’s marketed as featuring HDMI 2.2, you need further information to be provided as well.

Where a device is marketed as ‘Ultra96’ that is a small improvement to this situation, but it doesn’t necessarily represent what you might expect it to represent. It does not mean that the device supports 96 Gbps of bandwidth despite the naming convention, it only means that it supports some speed above the old 48 Gbps – that could be any speed though, most likely to be one of the 3 common bandwidth tiers of either 64, 80 or 96 Gbps.

Cabling is thankfully simpler, as it was with HDMI 2.1 previously. If a cable is marketed using the ‘Ultra96’ feature name then it must support all the new speeds up to 96 Gbps and must therefore support all the HDMI 2.2 capabilities that a device may or may not offer. Note that the HDMI-org do not allow the use of the “HDMI 2.2” branding for any cables, only the Ultra96 feature name.

What we’d like to see manufacturers do

At the time this kind of confusing situation arose with the launch of HDMI 2.1 we were concerned about the potential for abuse of the new spec, but thankfully on the most part manufacturers have been clear and transparent when labelling their connections and labelling their devices sensibly. Not everyone has played fairly, and we’ve been critical of anyone who’s promoted “fake HDMI 2.1” in the past.

For the last few years HDMI 2.0-capable displays were still being labelled and marketed as HDMI 2.0 which we think this is a very good thing. In the majority of cases everything marketed as HDMI 2.1 at least includes the high bandwidth support beyond HDMI 2.0, with most delivering at least some of the additional special features people associate with the connection too. We would like to see the same thing happen here with HDMI 2.2 and here’s our request to device and display manufacturers:

Our request to device and display manufacturers

1. We think that a device should only be marketed with HDMI 2.2 if it supports a speed above HDMI 2.1 (> 48Gbps). That’s a start.
2. If a device only supports HDMI 2.1 speeds (up to 48 Gbps), we’d like to see them continue to label it as HDMI 2.1. If it only supports even older capabilities and speeds, continue to use the even earlier HDMI 2.0 branding as happens today.
3. Manufacturers should only use the HDMI 2.2 labelling if a device truly supports a bandwidth above HDMI 2.1 (i.e. above 48 Gbps).
4. To get around the issue with different speed tiers that might be available on HDMI 2.2, manufacturers should list the speed they are supporting as well. For instance it should be marketed as something as simple as “HDMI 2.2 (64 Gbps)” and so on accordingly.
5. Manufacturers should specify whether the spec of their device / display can be supported using an uncompressed video signal, or requires DSC. We’ll talk about supported specs later on in a lot more detail.
6. Manufacturers should continue to list any of the special features like VRR, ALLM, eARC etc that their device supports over the HDMI connection.
7. We don’t like the idea of labelling devices with the ‘Ultra96’ feature name. It’s too confusing as it clearly implies a 96 Gbps bandwidth, when actually it only means it’s supporting some speed above 48 Gbps. We’d like to see the usage of this limited to only cables to avoid confusion.
8. Cables should be labelled with the ‘Ultra96’ feature name if they are certified as that convention works well for cabling.
9. It goes without saying, there should not be any abuse of all this or devices being marketed in a non-compliant manner.

We would much rather see the continued use of HDMI 2.0 and HDMI 2.1 labelling than a mass “abuse” of the HDMI 2.2 name. Ideally this would continue as it has over the last few years with HDMI 2.1, but the HDMI.org guidance seems to be contrary to this unfortunately. If you want to be honest and transparent with the market then this would go a long way. Please don’t hide everything under the HDMI 2.2 name and fail to deliver the speed and features that a consumer expects to see, just because technically you can. Name it appropriately, tell us what bandwidth is supported, what resolution, refresh rate, colour levels and advanced features are and are not included over the HDMI connection so no one is mislead.

Cabling improvements

Possible future cabling alternatives

At the moment there is only one cable that is tested and certified to support any of the new speeds above HDMI 2.1’s 48 Gbps, and that’s the new ‘Ultra96’ cable. It remains to be seen whether there are cable length challenges with these Ultra96 cable, but we anticipate there being length, quality and cost challenges if every HDMI 2.2-compatible cable is forced to support the full 96 Gbps every time. What about if a cable only needs to support HDMI 2.2 devices with the lower 64 Gbps or 80 Gbps speeds?

With different bandwidth tiers supported on the new HDMI 2.2 spec, this could potentially allow for cheaper, longer and lower grade HDMI cables than the full-fat Ultra96 cable if they are instead matched to the different bandwidths. The HDMI-org told us that at this time there’s only one cable, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see others launched in time.

If we had an ‘Ultra64’, an ‘Ultra80’ and an ‘Ultra96’ cable, those could each allow support for the different bandwidth tiers offered on HDMI 2.2. That could allow for lower cost cables for lower speeds, and in all likelihood longer cables too if your devices only need to support a lower tier speed. That would be the same approach as with DisplayPort’s ‘DP40’, ‘DP54’ and ‘DP80’ cables which each support the 3 different UHBR speed tiers offered on that connection.

If this were to happen for HDMI 2.2 cables you could then also use this naming convention for the HDMI 2.2 devices which would be an added benefit, using the relevant ‘Ultra64 / 80 / 96’ branding then to identify the bandwidth supported on the device too. At the moment with only a single ‘Ultra96’ cable that supports the full speed available, it makes it very messy trying to use that branding for the devices for the reasons we discussed earlier.

Using ‘Ultra High Speed’ HDMI cables with new HDMI 2.2 bandwidth devices

The other possibility is that some premium-grade ‘Ultra High Speed’ HDMI 2.1 cables could support bandwidths above the maximum 48 Gbps that was offered from that spec. It might be that some could support the lower bandwidths on the new HDMI 2.2 spec like 64 Gbps perhaps. They’re unlikely to support the maximum 96 Gbps, and if they did they would just end up being re-branded and re-certified as ‘Ultra96’ cables anyway. But there’s possibly some leeway with decent HDMI 2.1 cables that could be utilised here although that remains to be tested and confirmed. This is perhaps another reason to introduce lower-tier cables and offer Ultra64, Ultra80 and Ultra96 options.

Future Display Specs

Target use cases

With the improved bandwidth available there’s plenty of talk about all the new display specs this could help support in the future. It’s important to consider that at this stage the new bandwidth is more geared towards supporting devices other than TV’s, monitors and games consoles though. The HDMI-forum spec page says that “faster 96Gbps bandwidth improves demanding data-intensive, immersive and virtual applications such as AR/VR/MR, spatial reality and light field displays as well as various commercial applications such as large scale digital signage, medical imaging and machine vision.”

Longer term, the extra bandwidth will be useful to support even higher resolutions and refresh rates for TV’s, monitors and multimedia devices too which are discussed below.

Display specs supported

The new speeds will help support future very high resolution and refresh rate combinations which are beyond the capability of HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, although keep in mind that DSC (Display Stream Compression) will continue to be a key feature and will be used to power many of the headline future specs discussed here.

There’s two primary use-cases we are interested in here. Firstly, the new top-end specs that HDMI 2.2 will be able to support while still using DSC – pushing well beyond what can be achieved today with HDMI 2.1, and a little beyond what is possible using modern top-speed DisplayPort 2.1 connections which reach up to 80Gbps bandwidth maximum (on the top UHBR20 tier). Secondly would be display specs that could potentially be powered with an uncompressed video signal (i.e. without DSC being used). We’ll cover both of those here:

Headline Display Specs (Uncompressed video)

The following hypothetical future display specs would be the maximum that could be be supported using HDMI 2.2 and an uncompressed video signal. This assumes 10-bit colour depth and standard timing (CVT-RB v2) and we’ve rounded the refresh rate numbers to the nearest increments of 5Hz.

HDMI – Uncompressed Video Signal – Max Supported Refresh Rate (in Hz)

So, in theory HDMI 2.2’s new bandwidth capacity could power a lot of current top-end monitor specifications, without needing to use DSC at all. However, by the time this connection is actually available on graphics cards and monitors, which likely won’t be for quite a while (see expected timelines), it’s very likely that top-end monitor specs will already have moved on from these limits.

For instance we’re expecting 1440p @ 540Hz OLED monitors to be launched later this year so that’s basically already maxing out that capacity for an uncompressed video signal. We’ve already got 4K @ 240Hz monitors, so there’s not a huge amount of room left within the uncompressed signal capacity (up to 4K @ 290Hz with the max HDMI 2.2 bandwidth option).

We’re also expecting 5K2K ultrawide monitors with 240Hz at some point before too long, so that’s already exceeded the uncompressed bandwidth limit of future HDMI 2.2 connections.

The point we’re making is that right now, HDMI 2.2 could be useful for powering some top-end monitor specs without any compression, but in all likelihood by the time it’s released and available on consumer devices, the top-end specs will have moved on beyond the capacity. It could of course still then be used for lower-spec combinations, and for those who don’t want the absolute latest monitor specs available at the time will likely then be able to use an uncompressed video signal if they want to. It could also be argued that this is largely irrelevant anyway as DSC is visually lossless and so there’s little need to worry about uncompressed vs. DSC usage anyway.

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For reference here are the maximum hypothetical refresh rates supported for DisplayPort 1.4 and 2.1 connections. This assumes 10-bit colour depth and standard timing (CVT-RB v2) and we’ve rounded the refresh rate numbers to the nearest increments of 5Hz. You’ll see there’s a little less room than on future HDMI 2.2 connections.

DisplayPort – Uncompressed Video Signal – Max Supported Refresh Rate (in Hz)

Headline Display Specs (with compression using DSC)

The following hypothetical future display specs would be the maximum that could be be supported using a compressed video signal with DSC. This assumes 10-bit colour depth and standard timing (CVT-RB v2) and we’ve rounded the refresh rate numbers to the nearest increments of 5Hz.

HDMI – Video Signal using DSC – Max Supported Refresh Rate (in Hz)

Clearly many of these specs are way, way off in the future if at all – before you get too excited about those 10K @ 175Hz monitors! But this goes to show what could be supported using the new bandwidth of HDMI 2.2 and Display Stream Compression (DSC).

Here’s the same information for DisplayPort as well:

DisplayPort – Video Signal using DSC – Max Supported Refresh Rate (in Hz)

Further display spec detail

A comprehensive table of support resolutions, refresh rates, colour depth and chroma levels are provided by HDMI Licensing Administrator, Inc below which is also a useful reference:

Identifying devices that support an uncompressed video, vs. those which need DSC

To allow consumers to identify whether a device spec can be supported using an uncompressed video signal, or requires DSC (Display Stream Compression), the HDMI forum have suggested that device manufacturers may adopt a branding and naming convention such as the below. Whether they will or not remains to be seen but we’d like to see manufacturers identify whether their device spec can be supported with an uncompressed or compressed video signal in the future.

The uncompressed/compressed feature name designations include: A= uncompressed, B=compressed, AB=Both

• 4K120_A
• 4K120_AB
• 4K120_B
• 8K60_A
• 8K60_AB
• 8K60_B

Where HDMI 2.2 is featured we’d certainly like to see manufacturers clearly identify whether their display spec is supported using an uncompressed video signal or requires DSC. A lot of the time today, manufacturers will list DSC anyway if it’s needed, or promote an uncompressed video signal if it’s available and possible from the video connections provided. That should be easy enough to continue.

Timescales

The HDMI 2.2 spec has now been officially released to manufacturers as of 25 June 2025, but it will take some time before it’s incorporated in to end-user devices like monitors, TV’s and graphics cards for sure. If you look back at HDMI 2.1, that was released on 28 November 2017 but the first NVIDIA graphics cards to offer this connection were not launched until September 2020, almost 3 years later!

We expect additional long delays before any devices actually use the new HDMI 2.2 connection, or for that matter even need it. HDMI 2.2 is built around the same FRL (Fixed Rate Link) signalling as HDMI 2.1 was and so may not be as drastic a change as that was when it moved from TMDS used prior to HDMI 2.1. That may speed adoption up a bit. We think it’s possible we might see TV’s adopt this new connection in 2027, perhaps late 2026 even. Next gen games consoles from Sony and Microsoft will almost certainly adopt the new connection if it’s needed / useful to power the specs, and graphics cards and monitors will probably follow later on. Our educated guess would probably be 2027 for the first graphics cards and monitors to appear. More news when we get it of course.

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Useful Guides

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Additional Resources

• Loads of DisplayPort 2 1 Testing and Updates
• When HDMI 2.1 Isn’t HDMI 2.1 – The Confusing World of the Standard, “Fake HDMI 2.1” and Likely Future Abuse
• The HDMI.org website with details on HDMI 2.2

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