AMD Radeon GPUs To Level Up Display Output With 80Gbps HDMI 2.2

Before we get into this news, let's talk about HDMI 2.2, since we didn't actually cover its launch. HDMI 2.2 was indeed unveiled at CES, just as was rumored in December, and it brings along two major new features: the HDMI Latency Indication Protocol, and support for up to 96 Gbps of display stream bandwidth, outpacing even the fastest DisplayPort standard.

If the latest rumor is correct, though, we won't be seeing the full 96-Gbps bandwidth on some of the first cards to sport the connector. AMD's next-generation Radeon cards powered by the first UDNA GPUs will apparently also be coming with HDMI 2.2 support, according to regular leaker Kepler (@Kepler_L2 on Xwitter), who posted vaguely as he usually does:


What's interesting here is that the new cards apparently won't support the fastest 96-Gigabit HDMI 2.2 standard. That's hardly a problem for most users. 80-Gigabit HDMI 2.2 will still have enough bandwidth to support 4K at 240 Hz without chroma subsampling, meaning you get full 4:4:4 quality, even at 10- and 12-bit color depths. Obviously, it also supports higher resolutions, all the way up to "12K" (that's 11520×6480), with refresh rates over 60 Hz.

There is the argument to be made that DisplayPort 2.0 already has the same 80-gigabit capability, and that's true, as long as the card implements it. AMD's extant gaming GPUs only support UHBR13.5, meaning they top out at 54 Gbps, not the full 80 Gbps. However, according to Level1Techs, that's actually due to a lack of capable full-sized DisplayPort connectors that are capable of maintaining signal integrity at the full 80 Gbps transfer rate. AMD's Radeon PRO GPUs do actually support UHBR20, but they use Mini-DisplayPort connectors to get there, which most consumer GPU buyers don't want.


Will HDMI 2.2 suffer the same fate? Maybe. We do know that HDMI 2.2's high-speed modes do not work over your regular garden-variety HDMI cable that you have sitting around. The HDMI Licensing Authority has introduced a new standard for HDMI cables known as "Ultra96" to support all of the new HDMI 2.2 features, and it does sound like you'll have to have one of the new cables to enjoy the bandwidth bump.

AMD just finished launching the Radeon RX 9060 XT, which we expect will be the last of the big RDNA 4 GPU launches. UDNA is supposed to be the company's next big staging point, with new compute hardware, new discrete GPUs (including top-end flagship parts), new integrated graphics, and maybe even new console hardware based on this same architecture. Let's hope it turns out to be good when it makes its debut sometime next year.