Does HDMI cable brands matter?

So I have a Vizio 1080i 42in plasma tv with Dish Network and the HD channels on it. When we first set it up I had to buy my own HD cables. So I head over to Target and buy the cheapest they had, GE brand HDMI cable at 19.99. Hooked it up and everything looks great. I go to best buy to get some more for our 55in Hitachi 1080i projection TV and the guy there tells me that if i purchase the more pricey brands ill get a better picture. The brands he was refering to were Sony, Philips, MonsterCable all like 40 bucks and up for HDMI. He then told me the real thin GE cable like I have is most likely only delivering 480p-540p and that buying more thicker, heavy cables would get me full 1080i-1080p. So is this guy BSing me to get a sale or is really telling me the truth?

Total BS.

That's a load. Go to Monoprice.com, depending on the length they start at $2.64

He is full of sh??... All HDMI cables will give you the same picture quality, it either works or it doesn't... (its digital) More expensive cables will be better constructed, but it will give pretty much no benefit. (possibly last longer)Captain__Tripps

this...

i will say i bought an off brand hdmi cable and the video and sound would cut out intermittently probably due to shoddy construction. but as long as the cable is constructed well they'll all do the same job.

I don't agree with any of you, why would there be a new standard be made, it was 1.0, and we are at 1.3 now. And there is hardware that measures how much data it can carry and at what speed (bandwidth). I don't have the hardware, but a professional calibrator that set-up our TV did, and he did show a difference.

I really doubt he is telling a lie, because he doesn't sell cables at all, nor does he get any money in the progress. He gains nothing out of, why he carries the technology, I don't know, but he did show me. Also I don't like to use cheap cables for a expensive home theatre set, if something went wrong with the cables (shielding, latency, bad quality) and it broke my equipment I would be kicking myself.

Nice post Rastan.

Ok Rastan, I hear where you are coming from, but I still stand by my opinion, otherwise this argument about "which cable to buy" wouldn't be going on for 2-3 yrs, we would all have the same price/type of cables.

Ok Rastan, I hear where you are coming from, but I still stand by my opinion, otherwise this argument about "which cable to buy" wouldn't be going on for 2-3 yrs, we would all have the same price/type of cables.

Amith12

Ok Rastan, I hear where you are coming from, but I still stand by my opinion, otherwise this argument about "which cable to buy" wouldn't be going on for 2-3 yrs, we would all have the same price/type of cables.

Amith12

you can have your own opinion, but its wrong. Its a fact that the cheaper cables provide the same signal the $100 ones do. Best Buy marks up their cables so much because thats where they really make a profit. their employees get cables for a few bucks with their discount, do you think best buy would really sell their cables at a loss? HDMI is digital, not analog, so even if there i some signal loss, it wont matter, you get the same picture. its either there, or its not with digital. the debate goes on and on because pople that paid too much for cables, dont want to feel completely ripped off, and your kidding your self if you think the big companies dont post articles or sponsor sites to say that the more expensive cables are better.