The specifications for HDMI 2.2 have finally been released, and they're an absolute beast

Usually, it's pretty hard to get excited about someone releasing a brand new kind of cable, but sometimes it's worth the hype and attention. That doubles when the people behind the new announcement are part of the HDMI Forum, which develops and innovates on one of the most widely used display technologies in current times. So, when the Forum got together to announce that not only was a new version of HDMI coming out, but that it included some pretty huge changes to how we'll display media, we knew we just had to listen. And trust us, we weren't disappointed.

HDMI 2.2 comes with support for 16K screens at 60FPS

In a press release on the HDMI website, the Forum proudly presents what HDMI 2.2 is capable of. Right off the bat, the Forum hits us with some big numbers; we're looking at a 96Gbps bandwidth with support for 16K resolution at 60FPS and 12K at 120FPS. It seems a bit overkill on paper, but there's a good chance the HDMI Forum is setting the foundation for tech we've yet to see. After all, if HDMI 2.2 cables become the new norm, it's far more encouraging for manufacturers to actually make the hardware that can take advantage of these new capabilities.

If you're not in the budget range for a 16K screen right now (and I don't blame you), there's still some good news for the rest of us. For instance, if you have an 8K screen, HDMI 2.2 will now let you use 4:4:4 mode at 60FPS for those crisp colors, and 4K owners can also activate 4:4:4 mode at 240FPS, with support for both 10 and 12-bit color.

The Forum is adopting a new "Ultra96" standard to help people spot HDMI 2.2 cables in the wild. This label will only appear on cables that fully support HDMI 2.2, and we'll see it on cables that support "64Gbps, 80Gbps, or 96Gbps" bandwidths.

Chandlee Harrell, president of the HDMI Forum, is pretty pleased with how HDMI 2.2 is shaping up, and I don't blame them:

“The HDMI Forum is proud to release the new HDMI 2.2 Specification to enable higher performance capabilities and features for exciting and immersive new solutions and products. And the introduction of the new Ultra96 feature name will help consumers and end-users ensure their product’s maximum bandwidth is supported.”

If you're wondering how we went from coding on CRT monitors to watching movies on 16K screens at 60FPS, now would be a great time for a history lesson. We've covered the history of display interfaces, including the journey from composite video to HDMI and DisplayPort, and honestly, just reading it brings back memories of SCART cables.