What’s the difference between HDMI 1.4 and HDMI 2.0? What exactly is “future proofing”?

Most HDTVs today use the HDMI 1.4 standard to process video and audio signals between a source, such as a Blu-ray player, and your TV. 4K Ultra HD TVs in the market also utilize the same HDMI 1.4 standard. HDMI 1.4, therefore, supports 4K Ultra HD resolution.

HDMI 2.0 allows 4K Ultra HD content to be processed at up to 60 frames per secondHowever, since 4K Ultra HD TVs have four times as many pixels as Full HD 1080p TVs, additional capacity is required to process any video and audio signals between the source and TV. As a result, the newest HDMI 2.0 standard was recently introduced into the market. HDMI 2.0 allows 4K Ultra HD content to be processed at up to 60 frames per second, instead of a maximum of 30 frames per second for HDMI 1.4. This difference may not matter to many consumers as movies and TV shows are filmed at 30 frames per second or less. However, it may be important to gamers and others who have 4K content that was shot at more than 30 frames per second.

Many 4K Ultra HD TVs that will be released in 2014 are expected to carry the newest HDMI 2.0 standard. However, some manufacturers have developed ways to allow 4K Ultra HD TVs with HDMI 1.4 to be upgraded to the newest HDMI 2.0 standard, thus “future proofing” TVs available today. Sony, for example, can perform this upgrade on most of its 4K Ultra HD TVs through a free update over the internet. Other manufacturers may allow customers to upgrade their TVs through the purchase of external boxes, such as Samsung’s Evolution Kit.

If 60 frames per second are important to you, check the TV specifications before buying to ensure that your TV has HDMI 2.0. If not, you should ensure that there’s an easy way to upgrade from HDMI 1.4 to “future proof” your new TV.