As a former deputy editor of Home Cinema Choice and advocate of the highest picture and sound quality, I have always welcomed innovations in AV connectivity, even when others might think it boring.
And this CES, I was thrilled by one specific announcement that may have gone under the radar for many.
The HDMI Forum used the world's biggest electronics trade show to debut HDMI 2.2 – the specification for the next-generation of the now universally used port and cable. A bit geeky and, some might say superfluous considering many current TVs don't even support HDMI 2.1 on more than two sockets, the new standard will nonetheless prompt manufacturers to offer even higher bandwidth and features. And that will be great for viewers and gamers.
HDMI 2.2 will enable data speeds of up to 96Gbps – a significant boost over the 48Gbps afforded by HDMI 2.1. That will not only allow for picture resolutions of up to a mind-bending 16K (8640p), it'll support 4K video running at 480Hz.
And while it'll likely never impact movie or television viewing, such refresh/frame rates could be essential for PC gamers and/or next-generation games consoles.
Perhaps even more relevant for you, the HDMI Forum suggests that the new standard could finally signal the end to audio sync issues. These have dogged home cinema setups for many years, whereby the audio is milliseconds in front of or behind video.
Most modern TVs and AV receivers, even soundbars, offer sync adjustment settings, but if like me you've spent hours of your life trying to match the lip sync on a film or Sky Sports News broadcast by rewinding and going over the same footage time and again, you'll know just how irksome the process can be. Eliminating the issue automatically would be a godsend.
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On top of these improvements, HDMI 2.2 will be better suited for use with high-end AR/XR/VR headsets, we are told. Again, the faster the data transmission, the better the visuals can be, with lower latency and higher frame rates to make the experience even less stomach churning than today.
One caveat does remain, however – with HDMI 2.1 still only bleeding through to our devices, how long will it take to get HDMI 2.2 more widely adopted? The HDMI Forum says that the first Ultra96 HDMI 2.2 cable will be available later this year, but what will you connect it to?
Luckily, as with all progressive HDMI standards, it'll be backward compatible, so you can always future-proof yourself, but I can't help but feel we'll have a considerable wait until we get a TV or source that'll work with it natively.
Rik is T3’s news editor, which means he looks after the news team and the up-to-the-minute coverage of all the hottest gadgets and products you’ll definitely want to read about. And, with more than 35 years of experience in tech and entertainment journalism, including editing and writing for numerous websites, magazines, and newspapers, he’s always got an eye on the next big thing.
Rik also has extensive knowledge of AV, TV streaming and smart home kit, plus just about everything to do with games since the late 80s. Prior to T3, he spent 13 years at Pocket-lint heading up its news team, and was a TV producer and presenter on such shows as Channel 4's GamesMaster, plus Sky's Games World, Game Over, and Virtual World of Sport.
