# 1080p 60Hz Plasma - Needs special HDMI cables?



## mystic7 (Dec 9, 2007)

My brother just picked up a Panny 52" 1080p 60Hz plasma. The clerk (jerk?) at Best Buy told him he needed special HDMI cables specially made for 60Hz. I told my brother that was BS, that a digital signal is a digital signal, it's either there or it's not, no such thing as a degraded digital signal, as I've read here many times.

True or not? Is this a new development I'm unaware of, regarding 60Hz HDMI cables?


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

There is absolutely no need for a "special" HDMI cable. There's something to suggest that a 120Hz TV "might" benefit from a little better cable, you're right. The salesperson is just trying to sell him a $100 cable for no reason.


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## bobukcat (Dec 20, 2005)

What's next, super-duper quality A/C line cords to ensure the TV can produce the 600Hz sub-field?? :nono2:


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

There could be real reason for that, IF a) the TV can handle DUAL-LINK and b) he have a super-duper source ( Hi-End video card ? ) what could output the signal thru Dual-Link connector.


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## julesism (Feb 25, 2004)

I'm with the op on this... I was under the impression that HDMI was all digital, therefore you either had all the "signal" or you didn't. I've bought several cheap HDMI cables from ebay and a few from bluejeans cable.


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

:eek2: Here's one place where Monster cable actually outperforms the competition:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=2070357&postcount=16


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## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

Oh boy,:nono2:
Just another rip-off at best buy.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

Keep in mind that the salesperson often makes more commission selling a Monster HDMI cable than he does selling the $2000 HDTV. That motivates them to try to sell a Monster cable to every customer. I know salespeople who make a lot of money selling Monster cables, and get vacations and stuff paid for high sales. Electronics stores don't make very much money on most "big-ticket" items, but they sell them so that they can also sell you a bunch of accessories that they DO make money on.

Anyway, all you need is an HDMI cable v1.1 or higher. v1.3a is the most recent standard, and includes support for features that aren't yet available from any source components, such as Deep Color.

The two best sources for HDMI cables:

Cheap but decent to quite good: http://www.monoprice.com

Premium but very reasonable: http://www.bluejeanscable.com


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## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

mystic7 said:


> My brother just picked up a Panny 52" 1080p 60Hz plasma. The clerk (jerk?) at Best Buy told him he needed special HDMI cables specially made for 60Hz. I told my brother that was BS, that a digital signal is a digital signal, it's either there or it's not, no such thing as a degraded digital signal, as I've read here many times.
> 
> True or not? Is this a new development I'm unaware of, regarding 60Hz HDMI cables?


NOT TRUE! I can't believe the depths some people will go to sell something. 

A sales rep told my brother that the Sony he bought would not work properly if he didn't buy the Monster HDMI cable. My brother knew better and just told him that he already had the cable.

I went to the store (needed to buy something so it wasn't a special trip) and LOUDLY told the kid he was wrong and has no right lying to a customer in order to get him to pay big bucks for something.

I made sure there were plenty of people who could hear me. :grin:

Mike


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## V'ger (Oct 4, 2007)

There is the fact that data is transmitted at higher bit rates in 1080p/60 than at lower resolutions/frequencies. However, there are good lower priced HDMI cables that can handle the load. You don't need Monster, for sure. I use the better quality cables from monoprice, and they work well, even with high bit rate audio from BluRay.


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## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

I have five HDMI cables in use right now and all of them are the cheapest I could find.

I use the ones that came with my HR2x's, a 6' and 15' cables I bought at Benny's for under $15 for both of them.

The 6' cable is on my Blu-Ray and the 15' cable on the output of my HDMI switch. 

Mike


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

Yes, he needs very special cables for this TV. The ones that cost 9 bucks at Monoprice instead of the ones that cost $100 at retail stores.


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

mystic7 said:


> My brother just picked up a Panny 52" 1080p 60Hz plasma. The clerk (jerk?) at Best Buy told him he needed special HDMI cables specially made for 60Hz. I told my brother that was BS, that a digital signal is a digital signal, it's either there or it's not, no such thing as a degraded digital signal, as I've read here many times.


Monster Cable would prefer that you buy their super cables, along with their dryer cable.


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## NaperDan (Jun 9, 2009)

Lee L said:


> Yes, he needs very special cables for this TV. The ones that cost 9 bucks at Monoprice instead of the ones that cost $100 at retail stores.


I second this one! The monoprice cables are actually better than anything monster can produce. Do the research!

I would also write a letter to Best Buy's offices in MN.


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

I am sure the push to sell the cables came from the home office originally, so I doubt it will do too much good to write them.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

NaperDan said:


> I would also write a letter to Best Buy's offices in MN.


Best Buy makes more selling you a 6' Monster HDMI cable than selling you a 52" flatpanel TV, so nothing you say is going to make them stop selling those in favor of Monoprice cables with a $2 mark-up.


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