Why won't my HDMI cable work?

Why won't 120hz work with HDMI 120hz cable for my monitor?

• So I have the Acer GD235hz monitor and it runs at 120hz through dual-link DVI but will only run at 60hz through HDMI with the cable that my FLIP camera gave me. So what I did was went out to the electronics store and bought an HDMI cable that specifically says 120hz on it and 13.8 gb/s. I had to also get an HDMI female to HDMI Mini male adapter so the plug would fit. But alas despite having this 120hz cable I still am only given the option of 60hz. The graphics card is Nvidia 560 GTX. I'm really confused why this isn't working. Anyone know?

• Answer:

  Dual-link DVI (or Displayport) is the only way you can send a true 120hz signal to your monitor. Hdmi devices currently don't go any higher than 60hz at 1080p+ (a lower resolution might work) so your video card won't even try. About the cable you bought, I hate to have to tell you this but labelling an hdmi cable "120hz" is a marketing gimmick. It's to convince people with 120hz lcd tvs that they need a new cable. But the extra frames are actually added by the tv, using repetition or interpolation (when the motion smoothing feature is on). The cable never actually carries 120hz. Unlike these tvs, your monitor does accept a true 120hz signal, you just can't use hdmi if you want 1080p. Is there a reason you can't keep using your dual-link dvi? By the way, even if your new cable could let you do 120hz, you're still running it through an ordinary hdmi-mini adapter - it would bottleneck any speed you gained from the fancy cable. Don't feel bad, we all have face-palm moments :)