For those who want to know what’s under the hood, HDMI 2.1 is a improvement to previous versions in both bandwidth supported and features. HDMI 2.1 has bumped up bandwidth support to up to an eye popping 48 Gbps transfer speeds, more than twice its predecessor HDMI 2.0. That’s because HDMI 2.1 now supports higher video resolutions. 4K resolution will now be supported at 120Hz refresh rates while 8K at 60Hz while a whooping 10K resolution is also supported by HDMI 2.1 at 120 Hz. 5K is also supported. Related post: Beginner’s guide to HDMI: Features, Specs, speeds and release dates To push 48 Gbps bandwidth down the wire, the HDMI Forum’s Technical Working Group has announced new Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable which features low EMI (electromagnetic interference) which the HDMI Licensing group says reduces interference with nearby wireless devices. The cable is also backward compatible meaning it can work with older existing devices supporting older HDMI versions. HDMI 2.1 also brings Dynamic HDR support. HDR ensures that you see the right colors, and adds the right brightness, contrast, shadows to the picture. Additionally, HDMI 2.1 adds Enhanced Audio return channel (eARC), Variable Refresh, Rate(VRR), Quick Media Switching(QMS), Quick Frame Transport(QFT), Auto Low Latency Mode(ALLM), Display Stream Compression(DSC) to the HDMI specification. Related post: What 4K HDR is and what it means for your home entertainment experience Previous HDMI versions already support Full HD Blu-Ray Disc, Consumer Electronic Control(CEC), Audio Return Channel (ARC), Ethernet Channel (100Mb/s), 3D Video, 4 audio streams, 2 video streams (Dual View), Static HDR among other features which you can read about in this post.
