Monster and other companies want you to believe that their cables are in some way unique and better than all other cables.
They use arguments such as exotic materials, gold plating to prove their point.
In real life, it is for the most part like putting "go faster stripes" on your car, apart from the cosmetic aspect they doesn't make it go any faster. At best it might look to some like a faster car (when parked)
Simply put, as long as they can make it appear that they know more about cables than anyone else (thats a proven way of making something appear to be true, as a reference just look at human nature when it comes to abstract things like religion, if you have a religion you believe in, only that religion is the correct one. Regardless of what religion it may be)
The facts as far as physics go is that the goal of a cable is to transfer a signal from point A to point B without affecting the signal itself.
In practical terms that means that the cable has to be designed according to what signal it is going to transfer, the distance of the transfer, avoiding to pick up interference etc.
First off - Gold Plating, this is used (or "should" but seldom is) as a means of avoiding corrosion, since the copper used in the actual cable tend to corrode over time.
Golf plating does NOT make it transfer signals any better by being gold, it just keeps the copper from getting worse.
Whether it's 18karat or 24karat gold makes for any practical purpose no difference at all.
Really cheap and bad quality connectors doesn't use gold but some other "less resistant" metal to avoid corrosion.
From a manufacturers view, gold plating is somewhat more expensive than other options, from a customers view, the difference is close to nothing. Much less than say 10cents worth of material.
When you go out looking for a cable, look for one with gold plated connectors. But don't expect it to be something extra, it just helps you avoid buying cables where it is obvious that the manufacturer wanted to save money, by using cheap manufacturing techniques. (since you now know its really not that exotic that companies like Monster will have you belive)
Avoid cables with exotic materials, plain copper is still the best conductor available at a reasonable price. Solid silver and gold are better, but buying a brand spanking new projector costs you less than _solid_ gold/silver cables. So its not a realistic option.
Also avoind cables with a mix of materials, like "contains 2% silver" or some other marketing tricks. Mixing metals cause problems which you want to avoid in cables, but explaining why is a Very technical discussion since it involves pretty advanced physics.
Summing up:
1. Get a cable suited for what signal you want it to handle.
2. Avoid cables like Monster and other "better" (really worse) ones, you are only wasting your money here.
3. Get a cable with goldplated connectors, but dont pay extra for them.
4. Get a cable with copper as a conductor.
If you are a DIYer or have a soldering friend, a cable that works for most video signals and is available world wide at a reasonable price is called "RG59" (different manufacturers make it but ask in an electronics store for it)
Mate this with gold plated, sturdy connectors for you perticular purpose and you Will have a cheap and as good as it gets cable that can be used for quite a distance should you need a long cable.
Cheers!
PS. Sorry about this, but companies ripping people off like monster have been for years now, it really gets to me.
Oh and btw, there are NO scientific facts supporting ANY of monsters arguments. They do make their own arguments "sound" scientific though, which is a completely different thing.
DS.
