The guy at the store said I had to buy this $199 HDMI cable to get the HD picture for this new DVD player I bought for my kids media area. Is that right?

Sure, and you have to buy a Cadillac Escalade ESV to get the best winter driving ability, safety, ride stability, and quality of vehicle construction to get your 3 kids to school throughout the year….

No! HD signals can be sent via HDMI, DVI, VGA, or component video depending on the type of inputs on your TV. In addressing HDMI; there is a difference between the quality of HDMI Cables. Keep in mind that it is a DIGITAL cable. That means that if another brand of cable is certified to transmit picture information for its rated length and resolution (720p, 1080i, 1080p) then until you see a review that says otherwise, the cables are rated to carry the same information. We sell many grades of cables at many different lengths. In general terms, the longer the distance you try to run an HDMI cable, the better that cable needs to be.

The normal limit for a non-specialty HDMI cables is 50 feet. Anything longer than that usually requires an in-line amplifier/noise cancellation circuit to power the signal back up and strip out any noise picked-up in the house. Anything longer than that will require some specialty medium for signal transfer such as 2-gigabit network cables, or multimode fiber-optic cable. These options can be spendy.

Maybe you can use component video to send the DVD video to the TV considering your audience.

While Blu-Ray Disc Players are getting less expensive every day, make certain you buy a player that will grow with the format of your needs and your AV System.

Look for these features…

1. A network or Ethernet Jack. If it doesn’t have this, you should keep looking. A network jack will allow your player to be updated via your home Internet connection for new software upgrades and decoding technologies as the Blu-Ray format evolves. If your player has a software glitch or the manufacturer decides to unlock new capabilities, a software download through the Internet will make it happen.

2. A network or Ethernet Jack. Yes we already listed this, BUT many player from Samsung, LG, Sony, & other pioneering manufacturers have enabled their players with the ability to download movies from companies like Netflix, Columbia Pictures, and Blockbuster. Now you can download the movie to watch at home without: late fees, trip time, or the responsibility of losing the disc.

3. A Major Manufacturer who made the product. Major manufacturer must stand behind their products to maintain the status they have worked to achieve. These companies will always make service easy, upgrades possible, and have ALL of the features that are needed to work well in your home. The Big Box Store’s “house” brand is NOT and never will be equivalent to or backed-up by the integrity of a major company.