1 week Ago By Joe Gallop
A major consortium of Chinese tech companies has launched a new multimedia cable standard called GPMI (General Purpose Media Interface). The group includes more than 50 companies, such as Hisense, TCL, Skyworth, and Huawei. GPMI is designed to compete with and outperform existing standards like HDMI, DisplayPort and Thunderbolt.
The announcement was made by the Shenzhen 8K UHD Video Industry Cooperation Alliance, who say GPMI is not just a new connector, but a complete AV ecosystem aimed at combining video, audio, data, networking and power delivery into a single interface. GPMI comes in two connector formats. One is a USB-C-compatible Type-C version and the other is a proprietary Type-B connector with even higher performance.
The Type-C version offers 96Gbps of bandwidth and supports up to 240 watts of power delivery. In comparison, the Type-B version doubles that, delivering 192Gbps of bandwidth and up to 480 watts of power. For comparison, HDMI 2.
1 maxes out at 48Gbps with no power delivery, while the new HDMI 2.2 – previewed earlier this year at CES – tops out at 96Gbps, still without integrated power. GPMI does not just aim for higher speeds.
It also integrates a universal control protocol similar to HDMI CEC, and includes native support for networking and daisy chaining, which could simplify complex AV setups dramatically. Among the 50 companies backing GPMI are Hisense and TCL – two of China’s most globally visible TV brands – along with chipmaker HiSilicon (a Huawei subsidiary), which hailed GPMI as a “core technological breakthrough” for unifying “audio and video + data + network + control + power” into a single cable. The alliance claims GPMI was officially approved by the USB Implementers Forum in late 2024 for integration into USB-C infrastructure.
Initially, GPMI is expected to roll out in Smart TVs, multi-screen home entertainment systems, and possibly high-performance gaming setups in the Chinese domestic market. Later phases of deployment are said to target industrial and automotive applications. But analysts suggest GPMI’s global prospects may be limited, at least in the short term.
With current standards like HDMI and Thunderbolt deeply embedded in Western tech, with no signs of adoption from South Korean or Japanese giants like Samsung, Sony, or LG, GPMI could remain a China-first standard unless it gains international industry support. Still, it does pose a threat to HDMI’s long-standing dominance. Whether GPMI becomes a global force or remains a regional innovation, it is clear China is making major moves in the AV standards game.
As the world moves towards 8K displays, VR headsets, and ultra-high-resolution media, the demand for a single, all-powerful cable might finally be met – not in Silicon Valley, but in Shenzhen..
