Does HDMI 2.0 support 4K 60Hz? Bandwidth and HDR limitations

How this is calculated

10-bit 4:2:2 chroma at 4K 60 Hz comes in at 11.1 Gbps, comfortably inside HDMI 2.0 and visually nearly identical to 4:4:4 for photo and video content. Text on a desktop suffers slightly at 4:2:2 because the color-difference resolution is halved horizontally. This is the core limitation that pushed HDMI 2.1 into existence: HDMI 2.0 simply can't carry 4K 60 HDR at desktop-quality chroma without compression.

Verdict

13.4 Gbps lands about 1 Gbps under HDMI 2.0's 14.4 Gbps effective ceiling, which is enough for basic 8-bit 4:4:4 SDR but not for 10-bit HDR (16.7 Gbps) or higher refresh. The chroma trade is the standard fallback: 10-bit 4:2:2 at 4K 60 Hz comes in at 11.1 Gbps, comfortably inside HDMI 2.0 and visually close to 4:4:4 for photo and video content, but slightly softens desktop text because the color-difference resolution is halved horizontally. That limitation is exactly what pushed HDMI 2.1 into existence, which is why cables advertised as HDMI 2.0 always carry the HDR / higher refresh caveat, and the honest cable spec for any panel that might run HDR or 4K 120 Hz is HDMI 2.1 regardless of what the 4K 60 SDR baseline needs.