4 reasons this HDMI upgrade is a waste of money

It may not seem like it, but HDMI 2.1 has been around for several years now, and it’s closing in on a decade old. A new format, HDMI 2.2. was announced earlier in 2025, and we’ll likely start seeing it rolled out more broadly in 2026. The problem with that is that it took years for us to finally make HDMI 2.1 the standard, and it feels like as soon as it happened, we moved on to something else.

I like being an early adopter to new products, but I feel like it’s too early to get onboard with HDMI 2.2. Even if it fulfills its promises, I don’t see how the average consumer can take advantage of it. In fact, there’s a large chunk of people out there who are perfectly fine with their HDMI 2.0 or even 1.4 cables that don’t know what upgrades are waiting for them. I think it’s too early to get excited about HDMI 2.2, and I have four reasons why that’s the case.

1

The benefits aren’t there yet

The technology is good, but nothing uses it

When this past video game console generation launched, it did so with the promise of 4K 120 FPS being the norm. While some games hit that mark, the reality is that most of the AAA titles released don’t come close to that, although part of that may be hardware limitations. This means HDMI 2.1’s features aren’t yet maxed out, and I can’t see how we’ll come close to hitting what 2.2 has to offer if that’s the case.

It’s going to be a while before the promises of 8K or 16K become a reality, and with 4K TVs just now gaining mainstream popularity, it’ll be a while before either becomes a thing. Truthfully, I don’t know if 8K will ever become mainstream because there are still many people who tell you they can’t tell when something’s 4K or if it’s higher than 30 FPS. With 4K seeming like it might be the final format for physical media, I’m not sure how big the appetite is for better resolution.

2

HDMI 2.1, frankly, is good enough

It’ll take years for this to change

Pocket-lint / Amazon

While a lot of people like to talk about the speeds of DisplayPort, those speeds are largely beneficial only for enthusiasts looking to squeeze the absolute most out of their setups, and they often leave out that’s only an option for computers. For TVs, HDMI is your only option. Yes, there are many products, like your PS5 and Apple TV 4K, that use HDMI 2.1. HDMI 2.1 offers speeds of up to 48 Mbps, and that makes a solid difference, but I have to wonder how many people even care.

I have a first-generation Apple TV 4K that only supports HDMI 2.0. I also have a 4K Blu-ray player with a 2.1 cable plugged in, and while I notice a difference in both picture quality and audio, I wonder how much of that comes down to typical compression you see from streaming services. Having access to 96 Mbps doesn’t mean much if you’re still limited by how much a streaming service can handle. Yes, it’s nice for video games and discs, but I fear the majority of my time will be spent watching or playing something that doesn’t take advantage of the benefits. With HDMI 2.1 not being maxed out, I wonder how long it’d take for 2.2 to hit its limits, if it ever does.

3

I have no plans to upgrade my TV

TVs are expensive as it is

My Sony Bravia X90J is a few years old now, and more modern TVs have more to offer, but I’m perfectly happy with how it performs. I don’t have any plans to upgrade this TV, and I plan on using it until it no longer works. What this means is I likely won’t be getting to utilize any of the benefits offered by HDMI 2.2, but I’m perfectly okay with that right now.

I imagine it’s going to be quite a while until we see its benefits adopted into the mainstream, and I’m willing to wait it out and let the format mature a bit. By the time it gets to a point where game consoles can fully utilize HDMI 2.2, or at least get a taste of the potential, then it’ll be time to upgrade my TV.

4

We still haven’t normalized 4K

Things are moving too fast

While most streaming services offer 4K streams now, it’s taken a long time to get there. There are still plenty of cable channels that still output at just 720p, so those are far behind what’s considered to be the norm. I don’t see why HDMI 2.2 is rolling out and promising things like 8K at 60 FPS and 4K at 240 FPS. At some point, we’re hitting diminishing returns, and it feels like we’re there when we start talking about things like 8K and 16K resolution.

I’m sure my mind will change on this once I see an 8K TV in the wild, but that’s not going to happen for a while. I’m not in the market for a TV that costs more than $4,000, and I’m not really sure if I ever will be. Maybe there will be a time when 8K TVs become as affordable as 4K ones are today, and that could be when I pull the trigger.