Best HDMI cables for 4K and HD TVs: What to look for when buying new cablesīut wait, here’s where it gets confusing.We cover why this is important in this guide, but what you need to know is that just because a TV says it has HDMI 2.1 capabilities doesn't mean it'll do everything you need it to.īelow you’ll find our guide to everything you need to know about HDMI 2.1 and all of the changes that have arrived with this new HDMI standard that is already shaking up TV, movies and gaming for the better. The big elephant in the room here is that it was revealed in December 2021 that many TVs labelled HDMI 2.1 might not come with all of the features you'd expect from HDMI 2.1. However, there are many smaller features that add up to a much more capable standard, including support for Variable Refresh Rate ( VRR), Dynamic HDR, and Quick Media Switching, which should make it faster than ever to change between the devices attached to your television. The headline feature for HDMI 2.1 is support for 8K content at 60fps. Extra features are added as the needs of TVs have changed and HDMI 2.1 is the next big step. There have been many improvements to HDMI over the years since. Instead, HDMI offered high definition video with a connector that was only a little bigger than a standard USB. It was much more practical and convenient to no longer have to use bulky SCART connectors, or confusing component video cables. When High Definition Multimedia Interface (or HDMI) first arrived, it shook up the AV industry in a similar way. This is the reason why many TV companies are bringing out new displays that are primed for the future of gaming.

This is far higher than the usual 60fps and 30fps frame rates you’ll see on past games consoles. Both of the next-gen games consoles from Sony and Microsoft need an HDMI 2.1 connection to support frame rates up to 120 frames per second (fps).

Thunderbolt 4 hdmi 2.1