Are HDMI cables region free and identical in all world regions?

[my_name_is_link]

Are HDMI cables region free and identical in all world regions? I live in Italy, have Italian tv and Italian DVD player, and I want to buy an Audioquest HDMI cable on eBay from an American seller.
I'll use this cable to bring from DVD recorder, so it will carry 576i PAL signals for the most of the time. I wonder if this will work without problems, identically to what happens if I buy the cable in Italy. Don't tell me why I don't do that, because Italian sellers require a +40% price .
So, definitely, are HDMI cables totally identic in any part of the world, and region free with ALL signal, HD ones, Standard definition ones, NTSC, PAL?

Thank you, I really need an answer.

[edDV]

Yes HDMI is a world standard. Version 1.3 is latest but 1.2 is fine for a DVD player. Understand HDCP encryption does not allow upscaled playback of commercial DVD discs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDCP

[MysticE]

and I want to buy an Audioquest HDMI cable on eBay from an American seller.

Your Ebay seller is probably overpriced, as a comparison go here:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024004&p_id=...seq=1&format=2

This is one of their 'fancy' ones, thicker gauge, CL2 Rated (In-Wall Installation) w/ Net Jacket.

[usually_quiet]

Yes HDMI is a world standard. Version 1.3 is latest but 1.2 is fine for a DVD player. Understand HDCP encryption does not allow upscaled playback of commercial DVD discs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDCP

Upscaling commercial DVD may not work for some players when HDMI is used, but I don't believe it's true in every case. The Philips DVP3962 DVD player that I set up for my parents seems to upscale commercial DVDs to 720p when connected to their 720p Samsung TV via HDMI Good thing it works, since that model does not offer upscaling with any other type of connection, and they are only using it to play commercial DVDs.

Even if HDMI doesn't work for upscaling, the Smart-Link feature is convenient to have, assuming both the TV and player offer it. My parents have trouble with the concept of line inputs vs channel 3/4, so it is epecially useful for them. All they have to do is pop in a DVD, and the TV switches on and automatically selects the line input for the DVD player.

[my_name_is_link]

Thank you all .
This monoprice shop, is it American or European?
I mean, do they sell american-version things or european?

[edDV]

Thank you all .
This monoprice shop, is it American or European?
I mean, do they sell american-version things or european?

It doesn't matter for cables but check their shipping costs and export policy. You should be able to source reasonable price HDMI cable in Europe. Over here the prices have broken. HDMI cables can even be found in some retail stores under $15. I recently got a generic 2m HDMI (Taiwan) on sale for $3.99 at Fry's (normally $9.99). Seems to work fine.