Help a N00b Out With an HDMI Inquiry?

[Brandonriess8]

How's life, everybody. I'm a complete noob when it comes to display setups and the flow of electricity through said setups, so I'd like to ask a quick question. Plugged into the rear of my Asus VH238H gaming monitor is its power cable, an HDMI cable going to my Wii U, and a DVI going to my PC. I understand that the Wii U and PC send electrical signals to the monitor to display images, but should the monitor be feeding ANY electricity back through the HDMI cable. Any AT ALL?

Being the noob I am, I randomly decided to run a 'test' on the HDMI cable connected to the monitor, and there seems to be a current coming from the monitor even when it's powered off. I'm sure this is normal and it isn't a problem, but I was under the assumption that the monitor had no need to feed any current through display cables.

If possible, could someone tell me why this happens or if it even should be happening?

 

[jetfighter545]

Occasionally a cable will send byte packages through the cable to make sure a device is there. This happens so if you plug your computer in, it knows that there is a device there and starts sending the real data. Quite an interesting concept.

 

[jetfighter545]

It doesn't matter if the monitor is on or off. The chip inside it will still check for devices unless the power goes off. If the chip stops checking for data, how will it know when to turn the monitor on? The buttons are basic input data as well.

 

[Brandonriess8]

It doesn't matter if the monitor is on or off. The chip inside it will still check for devices unless the power goes off. If the chip stops checking for data, how will it know when to turn the monitor on? The buttons are basic input data as well.

So... Even if the monitor is off, it'll still be feeding some current through the HDMI cable if one end of the cable is plugged into the monitor and the other end is not plugged into anything? Just want to make sure no unwanted electricity is being introduced to my GPUs or Wii U.

And if the monitor DOES detect a device on its HDMI port, will it just stop sending electricity through the cable?

For reference, one pin on the HDMI port is giving out roughly 4.70v and 1.9mA from the monitor when I tested it. This is normal, I assume?

 

[jetfighter545]

1 No unwanted electricity will be issued to your devices.
2 If it detects a device it will send data - in the form of electricity - through the cable.
3 Yes that is normal.