If you have recently looked into HDMI cable prices, you will have probably noticed the vast discrepancies in price between the many different cables available on the market at present. This has led many industry experts to ask if there is indeed a HDMI cable price rip off going on.

There isn't a doubt, given that historically this has always been the case, that the retailers are taking advantage of a "new" technology and baffling consumers with science. I have seen two meter HDMI cables for sale at an incredible $120 (£78/€84), the same cable can be purchased on Amazon for less than $80 (£55/€60) but what's this on the same site they have a DVI Gear 2 meter HQ 1080P 1.3b for a bargain $3.18 (£2/€2.30), that's over $117 (£75/€80) difference between two cables that do exactly the same job.

Now I am not saying that all HDMI cables are equal because that is not the case, but they all do one job equally well and that is to convey digital

signals uncompressed and unconverted so as to deliver the highest quality vision and audio. There will always remain the quality factor that needs to be taken into account. Some manufacturers continue to stand by their standards and use better materials, but for anyone to justify the difference above to me is fighting a losing battle.

The only way you will see a difference between a cheap HDMI cable and the more expensive ones will be if your connections are not secure or if you have a long cable run, HDMI cables are notoriously bad over longer lengths. You will see cables advertised with such outlandish sales promotion such as Standard Speed, Higher-Definition Confront, Advanced High Speed HDTV, Ultra-High Speed and - the best one - Ultimate High Speed. Forget promises of faster speeds or better performance from more expensive cables they are a rip off.

Steer clear of those $100 ($66/€72) HDMI cable prices and instead spend your hard earned on a category 2 grade cable that delivers data at a bandwidth of 10.2Gbps and support to 1440p making it somewhat possible proof - the foreseeable future that is. This type of cable will make sure that more of your data is conveyed over long distances so as your 1080p HDTV will need to do less correcting the signal meaning a crisper, clearer picture and audio output. That will be money well spent and will run you no more than $10 (£6.60/€7.20) for a 2 meter length.