SAN JOSE, Calif.—The HDMI Forum has released Version 2.2. of the HDMI Specification with 96Gbps bandwidth and next-gen HDMI Fixed Rate Link technology to provide optimal audio and video for a wide range of device applications.

Version 2.2 supports higher resolutions and refresh rates, including 12K@120 and 16K@60. Additional high-quality options are supported, including uncompressed full chroma formats, such as 8K@60/4:4:4 and 4K@240/4:4:4 at 10-bit and 12-bit color.

“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,” said Chandlee Harrell, president of the HDMI Forum. “And the introduction of the new Ultra96 feature name will help consumers and end-users ensure their product’s maximum bandwidth is supported.”

The forum is encouraging manufacturers to use the “Ultra96” feature name to indicate a product supports a maximum of 64Gbps, 80Gbps or 96Gbps bandwidth in compliance with the HDMI 2.2 Specification.

Products that market or display the Ultra96 feature name require the Ultra96 HDMI Cable to ensure a product’s maximum bandwidth is properly supported. The new Ultra96 HDMI Cable supports up to 96Gbps and all HDMI 2.2 applications. The current Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable is applicable for system configurations supporting up to 48Gbps maximum bandwidth, the HDMI Forum said.

The Ultra96 HDMI Cable, just like the Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable, is part of the HDMI Cable Certification Program requiring each model length to be tested and certified and display a Certification Label.

The new specification also included Latency Indication Protocol (LIP) for improving audio and video synchronization, especially for multiple-hop system configurations such as those with an audio video receiver or soundbar, it said.

More information is available on the HDMI Forum and HDMI Licensing Administrator websites.

LAS VEGAS—In advance of CES 2025, the HDMI Forum has announced the upcoming release of Version 2.2 of the HDMI Specification, which delivers enhanced options for the vast HDMI ecosystem, with more advanced solutions to create, distribute and experience the best end-user outcome.

New technology enables higher quality options now and in the future for content producers such as TV, movie and game studios, while enabling multiple distribution platforms. Higher 96 Gbps bandwidth and next-gen HDMI fixed-rate link technology provide optimal audio and video for a wide range of device applications. An end user can be assured their displays will support a native video format in the best way possible and can deliver a seamless and reliable experience, the Forum said.

“The HDMI Forum’s continuing mission is to develop specifications to meet the HDMI ecosystem's growing demand for high-performance capabilities and features,” Chandlee Harrell, president of the HDMI Forum, said. “This new specification supports the fast-evolving landscape for amazing new technologies and products entering the markets now and in the future.”

Higher resolutions and refresh rates will be supported and more high-quality options will be provided. 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.

Also included is Latency Indication Protocol (LIP) for improving audio and video synchronization, especially for multiple-hop system configurations such as those with an audio video receiver or soundbar.

The specification includes a new Ultra96 HDMI Cable supporting 96Gbps bandwidth and enabling all the HDMI 2.2 Specification features. It is part of the HDMI Cable Certification Program requiring each model length to be tested and certified and display a Certification Label.

The new specification will be available to all HDMI 2.x adopters and they will be notified when it is released in H1 2025.

SAN JOSE—The HDMI Forum has announced the availability of the Ultra High Speed HDMI cables, which enable the full 48Gb/s performance of HDMI 2.1.

“The HDMI Forum didn’t rest after releasing the 2.1 specification, and 2020 was one of its busiest years ever,” said David Glen of Advanced Micro Devices and president of the HDMI Forum.

“We launched the Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable Certification Program (UHS Program) and now these UHS Cables are available in the market…,” he said.

The UHS Program ensures Ultra High Speed HDMI cables reaching the market support 4K, 8K, HDR, VRR, eARC and all other HDMI 2.1 features. 

The HDMI Forum also released the Compliance Test Specification for Active Cables in 2020, he added. Shortly, consumers will be able to buy Active Optical Cables supporting installations requiring longer cable runs.

Shipments of Premium HDMI cables reflect growing demand for 4K content as both consumer and commercial sectors look to connect 4K cable, satellite and IPTV set-top boxes to their televisions.

Premium HDMI cables are specified globally for use by service providers for in-home installations, the forum said.

The forum also is promoting HDMI Cable Power, which enables active HDMI cables to be powered directly from the HDMI connector without attaching a separate power cable.

More information is available on the HDMI Forum website. 

NEW YORK—Peacock will not allow users of its platform on personal computers or mobile devices to port the video to their TV monitors via HDMI.

The restriction represents yet another barrier to living room viewing of Peacock, which already lacks app support for the two biggest connected TV platforms, Roku and Amazon Fire TV. 

“HDMI connectivity is not supported at this time,” Twitter handle operators for Peacock told a bereaved user last week. “Users will not be able to view via external monitor connection. They will need to use their PC, mobile or one of our other supported devices directly.”

The Peacock posting directed the user to this link, which lists the devices for which the Comcast and NBCUniversal streaming app, which launched nationally July 15, is supported.

Peacock is supported by both the Google and Apple software ecosystems. In addition to connected TV devices powered by Google’s Android TV OS, as well as Apple TV gadgets, Peacock can be watched on personal computers via the Google Chrome Browser, for instance. MacBook users can watch it in Chrome or Safari. And of course, users of Apple iOS and Google Android mobile devices can watch Peacock on their gadgets. 

But Peacock users can’t hook up these PC and mobile devices to an external monitor via HDMI and watch Peacock. TV Technology's sister site Next|TV tried using a 2015 MacBook Pro and received the same error message as those legions of users complaining on Reddit did—a screen pops up on the external monitor featuring a sad-eyed kitten indicating, “something went wrong.”

Conversely, we hooked up our version 1.0 AirTV device, powered by Android TV and connected via HDMI to the same TCL 55-inch monitor, and we were able to watch “30 Rock” on Peacock just fine. 

Interestingly, the lack of external monitor support seems confined to HDMI. Next|TV connected its 2020 MacBook Pro to a 19-inch monitor via USB Type C (Thunderbolt 3) to DVI cable. We were able to watch Peacock original NASCAR documentary “Lost Speedways” just fine on the external HP monitor. 

Side note: The documentary was pretty disappointing: not much meat to the sandwich. Just Dale Earnhardt Jr. walking around an overgrown abandon speedway, making odd observations. Hoping for better luck with Peacock original “Brave New World.”

NEW YORK—What is HDMI 2.1? The new standard for HDMI connectors was confirmed back in November 2017, but has yet to trickle down into mass-market television hardware. When it does though, it will mark a big step for both the AV industry and the home viewers wanting to get the most of their TV series, films, broadcasts, and gaming consoles.

When High Definition Multimedia Interface (or HDMI) first arrived on the scene, everyone rejoiced at no longer having to use bulky SCART connectors, or those confusing component video cables, ever again. Instead HDMI offered high definition video with a connector that was just a little bigger than a standard USB plug. Over the years the HDMI standard has seen continuous improvement, with extra features being added as the needs of televisions have changed.

HDMI 2.1 is the next step in that process.

The headline feature here is support for 8K content at 60fps, but there are also a number of minor features that add up to a much more capable standard such as support for Variable Refresh Rates, Dynamic HDR and Quick Media Switching, which should make it faster than ever to change between the devices attached to your television.

Here’s a rundown of everything that’s due to arrive with the new standard:

RESOLUTION AND REFRESH RATES

The new HDMI 2.1 cables will allow faster refresh rates, including 8K resolution video at 60 frames per second and 4K at 120 frames per second—and it’s that second feature that will be the real selling point for gamers and home cinema geeks, at least at first.

“We’ve increased resolutions and frame rates significantly,” Jeff Park, director of marketing at HDMI Licensing, told TechRadar at CES 2017, adding at the time that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were going to be a driver for 8K TV content.

“NHK [Japan’s national public broadcaster] is going to push 8K120 as an actual broadcast stream, and many consumer electronics manufacturers want to hit that target, so we’re laying the pipe to give the industry flexibility. It’s practical stuff.”

Although it’s about keeping HDMI at the bleeding edge, HDMI 2.1 can actually go ever further, supporting resolutions as high as 10K at 120Hz—though that kind of capability is a while away from being supported on commercial sets.

DO I REALLY NEED 8K ANYWAY?

You may be skeptical of whether you even need 8K-capable hardware and connectors. And maybe you don’t: most content you’ll be watching on your TV will be in SDR or HD, and the industry is still adjusting to the flurry of 4K capable sets released to market. Isn’t this all preemptive?

Even if 8K TV isn’t on your radar, though, HDMI is looking ahead to its uses in VR, says Park. 

“8K content will have to follow, but it’s not all about linear content these days—it’s about VR,” he told us. “VR is targeting very high resolution and very high frame rates, and one of the targets the industry is talking about for VR applications is 8K at 240 Hz.”

That’s actually not in the HDMI 2.1 spec, but it’s achievable in the next spec, said Park, who thinks it’s even possible that some broadcasters could even skip 4K transmissions entirely and gun straight for 8K. You have been warned.

GAME MODE VRR

HDMI 2.1’s Game Mode VRR feature is about anything involving real-time interaction. The VRR stands for Variable Refresh Rate, which means less image lag, stutter and frame tearing similar to the effect achieved by FreeSync and GSync on the PC platform.

This is great news for gamers, because HDMI 2.1 will enable a 3D graphics processor to render and display images in real time, which will result in more fluid gameplay and greater detail.

Once again, this will find its biggest use in the world of VR. “VRR means no lag and a more immersive experience that you need for gaming, whether it’s traditional gaming or a cinematic ‘on the rails’ VR experience,” says Park. “An increase in fi delity is needed to make VR truly immersive.”

While it’s no endgame, HDMI 2.1 will bring convincing VR experiences closer. “But it will have an immediate impact on all gaming applications,” adds Park. “Whether it’s 480p gaming or 8K, it doesn’t matter—you’ll get that immediate feedback and interaction with HDMI 2.1.”

Another feature that will bring big benefi ts for gamers is Quick Frame Transport (QFT), which promises to reduce latency—great news for fast-paced games or online multiplayer.

WHAT IS DYNAMIC HDR?

Given the growing popularity of HDR, HDMI 2.1 bringing Dynamic HDR is perhaps the biggest news for home cinema afi cionados. Essentially it means that the very fi nest values for depth, detail, brightness, contrast and wider color gamuts can be sent to your TV on a much more nuanced basis.

“Today, HDR is done by taking average values for HDR across an entire movie, so while you still get some benefit, it doesn’t apply to each scene perfectly,” says Park. “Dynamic HDR enables the HDR metadata to be applied as precisely as frame by frame, or more practically, scene by scene.”

Frame by frame HDR would be massively time-consuming to produce, but scene by scene is feasible. Either way, HDR is about to be given a whole lot more impact.

WHAT IS EARC?

It’s not all about TVs, either; soundbars, AV amplifiers and other audio equipment will also benefit from HDMI 2.1—though it will mean upgrading all of your equipment.

For the last few generations, HDMI cables have had an Audio Return Channel (ARC), which means audio can be sent both ways between a TV and audio gear. This essentially enables a display to send its own audio—perhaps from a built-in Netfl ix app—to a soundbar or surround sound system, bypassing its own speakers.

Enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC) is nothing more than a simple update to keep pace with changes in audio codecs, specifically to include the new object-based audio codecs, Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.

“eARC ups the bandwidth significantly,” says Park. “Previously you were limited to two-channel PCM or legacy Dolby Digital or DTS audio, but with eARC that reverse channel can now support much higher bandwidth audio including Dolby True HD, DTS HD, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and other object-based audio at much higher bandwidths.”

WHAT IS A 48G CABLE?

This is about defining a new specification of a HDMI cable’s speed, with so called 48G cables (for now just a working title) offering 48Gbps bandwidth for sending uncompressed 8K video, with HDR, over a HDMI 2.1 cable.

So why do we need a 48G-rated cable? “Because we’re carrying so much data now—we’ve gone from 18 Gbps in HDMI 2.0 to 48 Gbps in HDMI 2.1,” says Park. “Today we have ‘standard speed’ and ‘high speed’ HDMI cables, and 48G will be related to that.”

Ditto the compliance tests that each HDMI 2.1 cable will have to pass in order to be labelled as such. Backwards compatible with earlier versions of the HDMI specification, and able to be used with existing HDMI devices.

WHICH TVS COME WITH HDMI 2.1 ALREADY?

As of 2020, HDMI 2.1 is starting to creep into the high-end ranges of today’s major TV brands. Many of these sets only feature one HDMI 2.1 port (with two or three HDMI 2.0 inputs alongside), as with Samsung’s Q950TS 8K QLED, new for this year. All of Samsung’s 4K QLED sets this year will feature one HDMI 2.1 port, which means you’ll have some options.

Others are being more generous with their support, with the LG CX OLED featuring four HDMI 2.1 ports—though at 10-bit 4K/120 Hz passthrough rather than the full 12-bit. This shouldn’t really affect your picture onscreen, given that the CX only has a 10-bit panel anyway, though it’s worth noting that there are other LG TVs that support the full 12-bit HDMI, such as the ZX OLED.

Most 4K TVs in 2020 won’t feature HDMI 2.1, though, and it will likely take another couple of years before its usage is more standard. Sony’s brand-new A8H OLED, for one, has no HDMI 2.1 ports, despite Sony’s gaming arm launching the 4K/120HZ-capable PS5 console later this year.

This article originally appeared on TVT’s sister publication TechRadar.

LAS VEGAS—At the 2019 NAB Show, Decimator Design launched the 12G-CROSS cross converter, offering 4K support up to 4096x2160 at 60p. 12G-CROSS allows either of the HDMI or SDI outputs to be simultaneously sourced from either the HDMI or SDI input or the new 4K scaling engine. The 4K scaling engine can be driven by either the SDI or HDMI input, supports horizontal and/or vertical flipping and can be locked to either the SDI, HDMI or Genlock input.

The 12G-CROSS is a small (4.2” x 5.1” x 1.2”), low power, portable converter encased in a solid heavy duty aluminum case and does not contain a fan, allowing it to be used in almost any environment.

The 12G-CROSS features the following four modes:

1. HDMI to SDI while simultaneously converting SDI to HDMI

2. HDMI to HDMI while simultaneously converting SDI to SDI

3. HDMI to SDI and HDMI

4. SDI to SDI and HDMI

Decimator Design’s new 4K scaling engine can scale and/or frame rate convert between any of the following 57 formats:

• (3840 or 4096) x 2160p50/59.94/60 via HDMI or 12G-SDI

• (3840 or 4096) x 2160p30/29.97/25/24/23.98 via HDMI or 6G-SDI

• (1920 or 2048) x 1080p50/59.94/60 via HDMI or 3G-SDI levels A or B

• 1920 x 1080i60/59.94/50 via HDMI or HD-SDI

• (1920 or 2048) x 1080p30/29.97/25/24/23.98 via HDMI or HD-SDI
  
  
• (1920 or 2048) x 1080psf30/29.97/25/24/23.98 via HD-SDI

• 1280 x 720p60/59.94/50/30/29.97/25 via HDMI or HD-SDI

• 1280 x 720p24/23.98 via HD-SDI

• 720 x 480p59.94 or 720 x 576p50 via HDMI
  
  
• 720 x 480i59.94 (NTSC) or 720 x 576 (PAL) via HDMI or SD-SDI

The 12G-CROSS also supports 3G-SDI level A and B, allowing for conversion between both and incorporates an easy-to-use LCD screen and button control system.

12G-CROSS is $495.00 plus local taxes and shipping. 

Samsung has launched “Remote Access,” a new feature the company says will be available on its Smart TV lineups starting this year. The Remote Access feature will allow consumers to remotely control compatible programs and apps on their PCs, tablets and smartphones through their Samsung Smart TV.

With Remote Access, input devices, including keyboards, can be connected to a Samsung Smart TV; without a separate HDMI cable connection, users can remotely access a PC in their room through the TV in their living room to perform various tasks including surfing the web or playing games from their TV’s screen using a connected keyboard and mouse.

Remote Access allows users to directly control their devices connected to a TV with a keyboard and mouse in addition to simply displaying the content on a larger screen. Additionally, web browser-based cloud office service can be accessed through Remote Access, so users can now access files and work on documents from their Smart TVs.

Samsung has partnered with enterprise software provider VMwareRemote Access on developing VMware Horizon for consumer applications.

To address security concerns surrounding wireless connectivity and cloud services, Samsung has integrated its proprietary Knox security technology into its Remote Access features. Embedded in Samsung’s Smart TV lineup since 2015, Knox is supported with regular firmware updates for continuous protection. Knox has been certified by Common Criteria for its security performance and is the only security solution in the TV industry to receive this certification.

NANJING, China—Magewell today began shipping two new Pro Convert IP standalone encoders: the Pro Convert HDMI 4K Plus and a 1080p HD counterpart.

The encoders, which use NewTek’s NDI technology allow users to add traditional HDMI video signals into live, IP-based productions. The Pro Convert HDMI 4K Plus transforms sources up to 4K Ultra HD at 60 frames per second via an HDMI 2.0 input interface. The new Pro Convert HDMI Plus encodes HDMI source signals into full-bandwidth NDI streams up to 1080p60 HD. It can also accept a 4Kp60 HDMI input signal and downconvert it automatically to HD for encoding.

A third model is scheduled to ship in early 2019. Called the Pro Convert SDI 4K Plus, the new model converts 6G-SDI signals to 4K 30fps NDI streams.

All Pro Convert models are low latency and plug-and-play. They automatically detect the format of input signals and rely on DHCP-based network configuration, eliminating the need for manual setup. Greater control of the conversion process and device features is available through an intuitive browser-based interface. It provides access to status monitoring, advanced settings and FPGA-based video processing including up/down/cross-conversion, de-interlacing and image adjustments.

Magewell will exhibit at ISE 2019, Feb. 5-8, in Amsterdam.

More information is available on the Magewell website.