[tiroshii]

Really confused as I never read into HDMI. So it can carry audio and graphical data, therefore; if I were to hook my laptop up to a HDMI Monitor, could I then plug speakers into the monitor headphone socket instead of the laptop headphone socket?

Edited by tiroshii, 17 February 2011 - 10:16 AM.

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HDMI came out of the home theater world so one cable could replace video and 5.1 surround sound cables. The digital video signal in DVI and HDMI is exactly the same. Home theater A/V equipment makers and TV makers did not want to support two different digital video connectors if they carried the same signal, so they did away with DVI.

HDMI moved to the computer world because big screen TV makers make computer monitors too. Supporting one connector is cheaper than two, and since more and more computers are moving into home theater systems, DVI is going away and HDMI is taking over for on-board, and graphics cards too.

BUT most computer monitors don't have built in speakers. Most users have regular computer speakers (often 5.1) fed out of their motherboard's sound connections for audio. Most graphics cards do not have integrated sound support. It is most likely your HDMI output is only video. But, you won't hurt anything by plugging your headphones into the monitor and see (or listen to) what happens. You might also check your manual for your notebook.

[Digerati]

HDMI came out of the home theater world so one cable could replace video and 5.1 surround sound cables. The digital video signal in DVI and HDMI is exactly the same. Home theater A/V equipment makers and TV makers did not want to support two different digital video connectors if they carried the same signal, so they did away with DVI.

HDMI moved to the computer world because big screen TV makers make computer monitors too. Supporting one connector is cheaper than two, and since more and more computers are moving into home theater systems, DVI is going away and HDMI is taking over for on-board, and graphics cards too.

BUT most computer monitors don't have built in speakers. Most users have regular computer speakers (often 5.1) fed out of their motherboard's sound connections for audio. Most graphics cards do not have integrated sound support. It is most likely your HDMI output is only video. But, you won't hurt anything by plugging your headphones into the monitor and see (or listen to) what happens. You might also check your manual for your notebook.

[tiroshii]

Ah I see, so my laptop's gfx card most likely won't send out audio through the HDMI.. I didn't think about it that way. I would simply test it but I am in the process if buying a new monitor - and this is one of my deciding factors. I'm trying to reduce cables running from my laptop.

[Digerati]

If the monitor has its own speakers, check the monitors features or manual (download from site) first. And check your notebooks HDMI specs too.