Are the newer 2025 based HDMI 2.2 specs better than the older 2017 based HDMI 2.1 specs?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

With the upcoming 2025 CES trade show event just a few days away, I keep hearing about this newfangled HDMI 2.2 spec (that's supposed to surpass the old HDMI 2.1 standby/limitations/bottlenecked specs). Is it really better than the older HDMI 2.1 standard from 2017?

And will the current Retrotink 4K and the OSSC Pro upscalers take advantage of the newer HDMI 2.2 specs (or would that entail having all new upgraded hardware revisions for both of them "down the road")?

Not to mention hardware upgrades for all of the current gaming consoles (PS5 Pro included) and Steam Deck as well (that's assuming if the gaming manufacturers choose to support the newest HDMI 2.2 specs -- this would also affect the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 console also if the prototype version still has the older HDMI 2.1 based port installed).

It'd mean having to buy the newer HDMI 2.2 cables whenever they're finally released at retail in 2025 (and "start all over again from scratch" with all-new A/V gear/equipment {TV, gaming monitor, A/V receiver, upscalers, etc} -- which is already a pricey/expensive upgrade/endeavor as it is).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Lord of Pirates]

If you don't have a bandwidth limitation I don't think it will matter.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

At the upcoming 2025 CES event, there will an official announcement as to what the new HDMI 2.2 specs are. Am curious as to what they are -- it's anyone's guess as of right now. Of course, the HDMI 2.2 spec will have a higher bandwidth rate -- that's definitely a given alrighty.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[bobrocks95]

Tink 4K, OSSC Pro, and PixelFX Morph are all HDMI 2.0b I believe. OSSC Pro may even use 1.4b if it's limited to 1440p.

Steam Deck as well is, at least with the official dock, limited to 2.0b speeds (4K@60 or 1440p@144). Hard to push that with the hardware on most games anyways so not a big deal.

Switch 2 I'd say is almost guaranteed to use 2.0b spec'd hardware, topping out at 4K@60 at most. Everything points to DLSS upscaling being used to even get there, with the system rendering at say 1080p natively instead.

So really no need to fret about starting over for another... Decade maybe? eARC works well enough that the only thing I think I'd really need to upgrade would be my display and GPU, if/when 4K@240 becomes viable on both ends.

I am hoping for 80 Gbps bandwidth or higher so 4K@240 is supported without compression. This is where DisplayPort is at, though I don't think any DP 2.1 GPUs are available since the RTX 40 series didn't support it. The 5 series OLEDs from LG will supposedly have 165Hz support but this is out of spec for 4K 10-bit video, so I don't know how the display will handle that (144Hz limit in HDR modes?)

[Rulumi]

I am hoping for 80 Gbps bandwidth or higher so 4K@240 is supported without compression. This is where DisplayPort is at, though I don't think any DP 2.1 GPUs are available since the RTX 40 series didn't support it.

AMD's RDNA3 RX GPUs and Intel's Xe2 Arc Battlemage GPUs should be able to do DisplayPort 2.1.

[bobrocks95]

I am hoping for 80 Gbps bandwidth or higher so 4K@240 is supported without compression. This is where DisplayPort is at, though I don't think any DP 2.1 GPUs are available since the RTX 40 series didn't support it.

AMD's RDNA3 RX GPUs and Intel's Xe2 Arc Battlemage GPUs should be able to do DisplayPort 2.1.

Nice to see AMD supporting it (and I expect it on the RTX 50 series), though if Wikipedia is right it's limited to the UHBR13.5 standard, so 52.22 Gbit/s usable vs 77.37 Gbit/s for the full UHBR20.

Not that we're anywhere close to graphically driving anything recent at 4K 240Hz, but that's the next thing that would get me to upgrade my OLED TV.

[Gara]

We are probably a long time away from seeing anything exciting with HDMI 2.2. I can't see 8k becoming approachable for most people for many years yet. It would be shocking if the Switch 2 was even HDMI 2.1. HDMI 2.1 with 4k 120HZ seems rather niche in gaming even after all the time it has been out. I don't think we will have to worry about upgrading our equipment for quite some time yet. I feel like the next few years and likely the next console generation will be more about 4k60 and 4k120.

It would be pretty cool to see a new LG OLED with 4k 240hz though. Like how LG released the C9 HDMI 2.1 before we even had video cards capable of driving them.

[D]

These new standards are not for right now.
They're for companies who will start implementing 2.2 the coming years/decade even.
They are standards so that companies have a strict and straight guideline as to what 2.2 is exactly and what it it isn't.
So that in the year 2031 2.2 device X will be fully compatible with 2.2 device Y.
So yes most likely the specs will be better or at the very least the same/similar
#yawnfest

And in the year 2029 we will have a similar thread:
Are the newer 2029 based HDMI 2.2.1 specs better than the older 2025 based HDMI 2.2.0 specs?

[Unseen]

Not to mention hardware upgrades for all of the current gaming consoles (PS5 Pro included) and Steam Deck as well

At least the Steam Deck should be completely unaffected, it does not have any HDMI outputs. Video over USB-C is always DisplayPort, I'm not aware of any implementation of the (now withdrawn) HDMI-over-USB-C spec.

Of course this leaves the possibility of using a different USB-C-to-HDMI adaptor that implements HDMI 2.2, but the question would be if there are any new-to-HDMI-2.2 features that warrant that and that have something equivalent in the DisplayPort version supported by the Steam Deck.