Because you're working with digital and not analog - the data is either there or it's not. There is no signal fade like you would expect with analog cables. I have several of the $10-$15 ones from Newegg and they work perfect. Keep it at six feet and the cheap HDMI cables will do fine even @ 1080p. Length can become an issue if you want to go cheap and long, as packets will get dropped and you end up with pixilation or no no picture at all.