Next-Gen HDMI 2.2 Brings 16K, 480Hz, and Ultra96 Cable Certification

The HDMI Forum has published the new HDMI 2.2 specification, which offers the double bandwidth of HDMI 2.1 with 96 Gbit/s and even exceeds DisplayPort 2.1. With the new Ultra96 cables, resolutions up to 16k at 60 Hz are possible.

Double bandwidth for future -proof connections

The HDMI forum published the official HDMI 2.2 specifications. As is well known, the new standard doubles the maximum bandwidth of 48 GBit/s (HDMI 2.1) to 96 GBIT/s and thus even exceeds the competing display port 2.1 UHBR20 standard, which reaches its limit at 80 GBit/s. With this range increase, HDMI 2.2 now supports significantly higher resolutions and refresh rates: 4K at 480 Hz, 8k at 240 Hz, 10k at 120 Hz and even 16K at 60 Hz. For uncompressed formats with full 4: 4: 4-color substructure (chroma subampling) and 10 bit and 12 bit color depth, the new interface 4K can transmit at 240 Hz and 8k at 60 Hz without compression.

Ultra96: New HDMI cable for maximum performance

In order to ensure the full performance of HDMI 2.2, the HDMI Forum introduces the new “Ultra96” cable certification. This name is intended to help consumers to identify cables that support the maximum bandwidth of 96 Gbit/s. Only cables with the official Ultra96 marking guarantee the full HDMI 2.2 performance.

The introduction of the new Ultra96 feature name will help consumers and end users to ensure that the maximum bandwidth of your product is supported. Chandlee Harrell, President of the HDMI Forum

The Ultra96 cables will be part of the HDMI cable certification program, in which every model and length must be tested and certified.

Better synchronization and downward compatibility

In addition to the higher bandwidth, HDMI 2.2 also introduces the new latency indication protocol (lip). This protocol aims to improve the audio video synchronization in systems in which the signal runs through more than one device before reaching the final display. This is particularly advantageous for complex home cinema setups with several speaker channels, receivers and projectors or screens.

HDMI 2.2 is also completely downward compatible. This means that the new cables can be used with older connections and offer the lowest common performance. If you connect an HDMI 2.2 Ultra96 cable to a TV with HDMI 2.1 support, you will continue to receive HDMI 2.1 functions and speeds without any problems.

AMD could be a pioneer in implementation

The first HDMI 2.2 devices are expected to come onto the market at the end of the year, whereby AMDS could be among the first to support the new standard. Little is still known about the next generation of the Radeon cards, but an earlier leak indicated a limited HDMI 2.2 support for UDNA, which would limit the maximum bandwidth in most models. Currently, only AMDS Radeon Pro cards support the full DisplayPort 2.1b UHBR20 standard, while the RX 9000 series is limited to only 54 GBit/s (instead of the possible 80 Gbit/s).

It remains to be seen whether AMD is pursuing a similar approach at UDNA and only offers the full HDMI 2.2 bandwidth with its workstation GPUs. The first Ultra96-certified HDMI cables will also be released later this year. Although 16K displays have not yet been on the shelves of the shops and most of the content currently ends at 4K or at most 8k, HDMI 2.2 is primarily concerned with a future-proof standard.