Home / Channel / CES / HDMI 2.1 paves way for 4K/120Hz and 8K/60Hz

HDMI 2.1 paves way for 4K/120Hz and 8K/60Hz

It looks like we can expect more high refresh rate 4K displays as the year goes on as this week The HDMI Forum announced the specification for HDMI 2.1. This new and improved version of HDMI increases bandwidth quite a bit, paving the way for 4K at 120Hz, 8K at 60Hz and Dynamic HDR.

New HDMI 2.1 compliant cables will have 48Gbps of bandwidth, which is up from 18Gbps. This extra bandwidth means we may start seeing more 8K monitors pop up over the next couple of years, alongside more high refresh rate 4K gaming monitors. Speaking of which, Asus unveiled the world's first 144Hz 4K gaming monitor just yesterday.

hdmi-2-1

Dynamic HDR will also be a big part of HDMI 2.1, using this new technology, you will be able to see a wider colour gamut on your monitor. Displays will also be able to adapt content frame by frame for the best possible image, adjusting contract, detail levels and brightness on the fly based on what's happening on screen.

HDMI 2.1 is backwards compatible with previous versions and monitor makers will be able to start implementing it into products during the second half of 2017.

KitGuru Says: While we don't necessarily have the GPUs required to push 120Hz gaming at 4K just yet, it is exciting to see that high refresh rate 4K is now finally possible.

Become a Patron!

Check Also

Lian Li’s 2025 Hardware Innovations: Unique PSU, Cases, and Fans

In our latest CES 2025 coverage, Leo walks us through the Lian Li suite. The Vector V100 is a great place to start, as it offers incredible aesthetics for its target price. The RS1200 Power Supply and the O11D Evo Mini are standouts for impressive feature sets and other improvements.

6 comments

  1. We barely have the GPUs to push 4,k at 60hz let alone 120 or 144

  2. No not we. Just you.

  3. Vice Liberty Andreas

    What about my DisplayPort?

  4. what GPU you use to push 4K at 120 ? i guess YOUR fingers

  5. Noob

  6. ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US

We've noticed that you are using an ad blocker.

Thank you for visiting KitGuru. Our news and reviews teams work hard to bring you the latest stories and finest, in-depth analysis.

We want to be as informative as possible – and to help our readers make the best buying decisions. The mechanism we use to run our business and pay some of the best journalists in the world, is advertising.

If you want to support KitGuru, then please add www.kitguru.net to your ad blocking whitelist or disable your adblocking software. It really makes a difference and allows us to continue creating the kind of content you really want to read.

It is important you know that we don’t run pop ups, pop unders, audio ads, code tracking ads or anything else that would interfere with the KitGuru experience. Adblockers can actually block some of our free content, such as galleries!