Can't get my blu-ray to play in HD?

-I have a Toshiba HD TV (1080p) and a Blu-Ray player, which I connected using an HDMI cable. The problem being I can't get the Blu-Ray player to play in HD. If I plug in component cables it will run in SD at the 4:3 ratio but that's all I've been able to accomplish. What am I doing wrong?You are mixing things up. The video resolution is NOT screen ratio.



To make it more complex - Recent TV shows shot in HD are exactly 16:9 and will fully fill the screen. But movies for the theater can be in nearly a dozen different ratios which cause black-bars.



Are you using a BluRay with a Movie, seeing black bars and thinking you are not getting HD? Not true.



Do this:



* Disconnect the component cables.



* Hook up the HDMI and make sure the BluRay player is still set to output 1080.



* Rent a recent TV show on BluRay and make sure the back of the box says 16:9 ratio.



* Play the TV show (not the menu) and grab your TV remote. Most televisions allow you to change the screen ratio. Find these settings and turn them OFF so you are not WIDE or ZOOM or STREACHED.



Once you get the perfect image without black bars or screen distortion from zooming in - you know your TV is setup properly.



Now pop in that BluRay disk that is giving you trouble and start the movie. Do you see the black bars? This is normal. This is the exact image ratio you would have seen in the movie theater. If you love movies - you will want this experience and will ignore the black bars.



Still not satisfied? (sigh) Grab the TV remote. Find the "Aspect" settings in the TV menu. Many of the televisions will let you expand the image to fill the screen. The image will be slightly distorted because of this but you get used to it after a while.



Hope this helps.
You don't specify what brand/model of BD player, but your player is probably set for SD output, rather than HD (most players can output at least 480p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p). Look for the output mode in the menu. You may also want to switch it to 16:9 output aspect ratio while at it.
All blu ray disc players are capable of the 1080P. You just need to set the video setting to auto or 1080P. Those bargain price blu ray disc player are not quite dependable compare to the name brands like Panasonic, Samsung and Sony. Go online to Home Theater Magazine and read the reviews on blu ray disc players. Hope this will help you out.