Can HDMI be used for just audio?

Question

i just got a new laptop and it has an hdmi out, i also have my surround sound system wich is also hdmi, can i use hdmi just for sound or the hdmi on both my laptop and surround sound are only video

Answer 1

yes

Answer 2

HDMI does a handshake with the other side of the connection, so it will know that you have hooked it up to a device that does not use the picture data, and will just send the sound data.

You can watch the picture on your laptop or external monitor obviously.