Remote control via HDMI?

I hate my first post to be about "something I read somewhere", but, well, I fell I have no choice. And I'll beg forgiveness in advance.:bowdown:

[deep breath]

I read somewhere that HDMI can carry remote commands. So my shiny new Pio 5020 can receive and pass along signals via hdmi for my Onk 605 and even for the HD cable box,and eventual BD player, as all will be linked to the screen via hdmi. through the Onk.

This is important to me, as my gear is in a hall closet fairly remote from the viewing room. I've been using a Harmony 890(?) with rf signaling, with my current non-hdmi setup and it's been OK. Not great, but OK.

Any truth to this?

thanks.

fn

Some devices have this capability in form or another. For example by Blu-Ray player when turned on will turn on my TV and switch it to that input. Nice feature, but IMHO a difficult way to set up your system based on. I turned it off because it messed up my macros on my Harmony and was not always so reliable. But I'm sure others have had better experiences.