Just to clarify, those $1400 HDMI cables are active and are for a 20 meter (67 feet) run at Category 2 (3.4Gbps) speeds. That's taking the full spec of HDMI 1.3 into account, not just the 2.25Gbps 1080p/60@12-bit chipsets that are out right now. I'm hoping this technology comes down in price but how VizionWare is doing their HDMI transmission is actually pretty creative (enough to actually get them patented).
Also, this product is targeted to high-end customer installers. If we only awarded products based on them fitting into a low budget there would be very little room to acknowledge innovation which often comes at a price.