10K gaming at 120Hz will be possible with HDMI 2.1—but not for a while

While the world cheers on 4K resolution, and some manufacturers have even introduced 8K displays—like this insane Dell UltraSharp—a little detail slipped through HDMI's official 2.1 spec sheet: it'll support 10K resolution at a full 120Hz refresh rate.

Initially introduced in January of this year, HDMI's huge 48 Gbps bandwidth was heralded as being 8K 120Hz capable, which is more resolution than any current GPU can handle. We even reported on it here. A look back at the spec overview, however, shows that 10K resolutions are possible at 50Hz, 60Hz, 100Hz and 120Hz.

The problem is driving that many pixels. Current GPUs like the GTX 1080 Ti, our pick for the best high-end graphics card, can usually maintain 4K at 60 fps in current games, perhaps with a few tweaks to the settings. 5K is 78 percent more pixels than 4K, and 10K is four times as many pixels as 5K. Then double the performance requirements again to hit 120 fps. That would be more than 14 times as many pixels as 4K, or more than 55 times as many pixels as 1080p.

If we assume a somewhat generous increase in GPU performance of 30 percent per year, it will take about ten years before GPUs are fast enough to handle 10K panels at 120 fps in games. Film and other media would be much easier, but even the current HEVC specifications don't go beyond 8K at 60 fps.

There's still the question of what to do with those pixels. A 27-inch 4K display has around 160 DPI, and from a distance of more than a couple of feet, most of us aren't equipped with eyes that are good enough to resolve the individual pixels. You could have a 10K screen with a 73-inch diagonal and get a similar DPI. Theoretically, 10K would be a great resolution for truly incredible VR, but again that's only if the pixels can be rendered fast enough (minimum 90Hz, possibly a lot higher).

There's no word on when devices supporting 10K at 120Hz will start coming out, but given the above limitations, don't expect to upgrade anytime soon. But your kids or grandkids will love it.

Tuan Nguyen
Tuan is the Editor-in-Chief of Maximum PC, and loves all things tech. He's been building PCs and ruffling feathers in the industry for 20 years, and isn't afraid to call out bad products and services. In fact, it's very common to hear the words "this is shit" escape his lips. If you want to know if something is "Kick-Ass" or not, email or tweet him.
Latest in Gaming Monitors
Samsung 3D monitor
Samsung has a crack at ye olde glasses-free 3D monitor thing but its new cheaper 49-inch ultrawide OLED is far more interesting
Acer Predator Z57 dual-4K monitor
Acer Predator Z57 gaming monitor review
Sony RGB LED panel tech
Sony's fixing the wrong panel problems while showing off its new 'RGB LED' backlight tech with outrageous colours and brightness
Alienware 27 AW2725Q QD-OLED
Alienware 27 AW2725Q QD-OLED review
Asus's new ultrawide sucks as hard as it blows
Asus' new monitors purify 90% of airborne dust from your desktop and I've definitely seen some gnarly gaming setups that would benefit
Asus ROG Swift PG27UCDM gaming monitor
Asus ROG Swift PG27UCDM review
Latest in News
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'
Starfield: Shattered Space
By the time Bethesda was on Starfield, you'd 'basically get in trouble' for breaking schedule, says former dev: 'A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having the freedom to do what you want'
Otter AI Meeting Agent
As if your work meetings weren't already fun enough, now Otter has a new all-hearing AI agent that remembers everything anyone has said and can join in the discussion
Monster Hunter Wilds' stockpile master studying a manifest
As layoffs and studio closures continue to deathroll the western AAA industry, analyst points out 5 of 8 major Japanese companies hit all-time share prices this year