HDMI 2.?

As you might know, not all HDMI cables are made equal, but the attached chart can help you make sense of what’s supported by different cables claiming different HDMI “versions.”

But, while the HDMI cable situation is complicated, it is proving harder to make sense of how the current standards apply to the devices the cables are joining.

In what is likely to be a fun year of confusion, the standards and license body responsible for coordinating the HDMI spec has gone on record as having eliminated the HDMI 2.0 standard, and now manufacturers can claim their devices are HDMI 2.1 compliant without necessarily supporting all the features shown in the list above.

This is something similar to what we saw in the USB world that eventually led to the fun names like “USB 3.2 Gen X” you may have noticed while shopping for computers in the last couple years.

Only time will tell how this will sort out, but we might have some interesting names in the HDMI world in the near future.

In any event, it looks like we all need to be especially careful when buying a TV or monitor labelled “HDMI 2.1” in the coming year. 🙂

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/12/the-hdmi-forum-follows-the-usb-if-in-using-new-version-numbers-to-refer-to-old-ports/

https://tftcentral.co.uk/articles/when-hdmi-2-1-isnt-hdmi-2-1