Well, that’s actually a trick question.  The truth is, there is no such thing as a 120Hz or 240Hz HDMI Cable?  We recently wrote an article explaining the HDMI ratings, as specified by HDMI Licensing, LLC.  No where does HDMI Licensing, LLC specify an HDMI cable rating of 120Hz or 240Hz, but rather the HDMI specification uses speed ratings, which mean cables are certified for a specific data rate.

Why do so many HDMI companies advertise their HDMI cables as being able to carry a 120Hz or 240Hz signal?  The truth is that many HDMI manufacturers are using deceptive advertising practices to confuse consumers and promote their cables as being superior to other cables.

By advertising that “if your HDMI cable does not handle a 240hz signal it will not work with the newer 240Hz TV’s,” they are implying that the source (DVD player, Satellite box, etc) is sending a 240Hz (or 120Hz) signal via the HDMI Cable, and if your cable is not rated as such, then it will not work.

There is no component available that outputs a 120Hz or 240Hz signal, and as far as we know, there is no display device (TV, projector, etc) that can accept a 240Hz signal on its input (new 3D TV’s will have to accept 120Hz on the input).  If this is true, why are so many TV’s advertised as 120Hz or 240Hz displays?

Video sources, such as DVD players and Cable/Satellite boxes transmit their signal to the TV at a rate of 60hz.  Once the signal reaches the TV, the TV’s processor will take the 60Hz signal and “upconvert” it to 120HZ or 240Hz.  This is done mainly in LCD TV’s to allow a faster refresh rate, which helps the LCD TV’s deal with faster moving images (this was one of the downsides to LCD Tv’s).  We won’t get into how the specifics of how the processing works, but for the scope of this article it’s enough to know that the signal leaving your source (DVD Player, etc) is transmitted at 60Hz, not 120Hz or 240Hz, and it gets increased to 120Hz or 240Hz ONLY AFTER it has entered the TV’s processor, which then converts it to a 120Hz or 240Hz signal.  This means that there is no such thing as a 120Hz or 240Hz HDMI cable!

Any HDMI cable you purchase will work with your 240Hz TV, regardless of whether it’s “rated” for 120Hz or 240Hz.  There’s no need to consider this rating when purchasing an HDMI cable because it’s not a valid rating.  The only ratings you should be concerned about are the ones given by HDMI Licensing, LLC which are Standard Speed, Standard Speed with Ethernet, High Speed, High Speed with Ethernet, and Standard Automotive HDMI cables.