New HDMI 2.2 protocol aims to significantly reduce audio latency.

The HDMI Forum, which manages specifications for HDMI connections, announced on Tuesday the version 2.2 of the protocol. called HDMI 2.2, increases data transfer rates and aims to significantly reduce audio latency. Read more about what exactly changes with the new HDMI 2.2 protocol.

Here's What's New with HDMI 2.2

"The mission continues of the HDMI community is to develop specifications to respond to the growing need for high-performance capabilities and features in the evolving HDMI ecosystem," said Chandlee Harrell, president of the HDMI community. "This new specification supports the constantly evolving landscape for new technologies and amazing products entering the market now and in the future."

HDMI 2.2 arrives a few years after the announcement of HDMI 2.1, which enabled support for resolutions like 4K120 and 8K60.

The new version of the protocol increases bandwidth to 96 Gbps, which is ideal for AR/VR devices that need a lot of data. According to the HDMI Forum, the faster bandwidth also enables "various commercial applications such as large-scale digital signage, medical imaging, and machine vision."

Even if you don't have an AR/VR device, there's another aspect of HDMI 2.2 that will benefit many users. This is thanks to a new Latency Indication Protocol (LIP) for improving audio and video synchronization, which should significantly reduce audio latency – particularly when using an audio-video receiver or sound bar. HDMI 2.2 also allows support for higher resolutions and refresh rates.

Of course, it will still take some time before the first HDMI 2.2 devices hit the market. This is because the new protocol has not yet been implemented for adoption, which should happen in the first half of 2025. Even so, given that HDMI 2.1 already supports resolutions like 4K at 120Hz, most users probably won't be eager to upgrade.

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