The next big HDMI leap is coming next week – what the 2.2 standard means for you [Video]

The HDMI Forum, responsible for developing HDMI technology standards, has announced plans to reveal the new HDMI 2.2 specification at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Jan. 6.

According to the press release, the forthcoming specification will likely be called “HDMI 2.2” and feature new display transfer wizardry that should provide higher bandwidth and a “wide range of higher resolutions and refresh rates.”

Also: The best HDMI cables you can buy

Debuting back in 2002, HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface, in case you ever wondered) has been steadily improving for decades. The current standard, HDMI 2.1b, already supports up to 10K resolution, 120Hz refresh rates, dynamic HDR, and up to 48 Gbps of data transfer bandwidth — and those specs are about to take another great leap forward.

Here’s where I’d love to tell you precisely what the upgraded specs will include, but we’ll have to wait until January to delve into that.

What can …