I will not argue the Monster cable is good if not a great cable. What bothers me is the price that they sell it at because I work in R&D and have cables made for us in development. Cables as simple in design as what Monster makes should only go for about $10 to 15 at low volumes. The more you make the less your cost is and your profit increases.
If you want to improve your video viewing quality make better connections on better equipment.
S-video is better than composite
component is better than S-video
DVI is better than component
This will improve your picture more than buying very expensive cables that do nothing more than carry your signal. Once basic shielding is done you have taken care of most of the problems in carrying your signal.
NO CABLE WILL MAKE YOUR SIGNAL LOOK BETTER. It will only transfer what your player sends out!
If you have the money to spend, buy better equipment. A DVD player with progressive scan (you need a tv that supports this) is better than interlaced. A 12 bit video dac is better than 10 bits. These things actually make the signal that you are viewing, so put your money their.
Component out is a must. More players with DVI will soon start coming out (if your tv supports this).
This weekend I decided to test the video playing quality of my new Sony GX7 dvd recorder with a 12 bit 108 mhz video processor against my Denon 1600 with a 10 bit 54 mhz video processor with the famed Faroudja decoder.
Back in the day when I believed in Monster and component cables were still $40 bucks I bought some. That is what the Denon is hooked up with. When I brought my GX7 home I did not have another component cable so I stole the $19 HD set from my Xbox and hooked up the GX7. WOW what a difference the 12 bit video dac made over the 10 bit (even though I was using a cheaply made uninsulated game unit cable).
I have a 50" HD tv that lets me see the suttle details that you are gaining in processing. I watched Star Wars AOTC and for the first time I was able to see that R2D2's blue light panel is actually individual LEDs turning on and off. Before it looked like a panel with a blue light that would dim or go on and off. The detail that you can see in some shots when the camera is focused is amazing (like viewing a still picture).
I noticed all this with my $20 Xbox cables.
