Problem getting Full Screen on Ext. Monitor thru HDMI

Whenever I try playing a Movie on my Studio's Blu-Ray drive & output it to my 26" LCD TV thru the HDMI, the picture on the screen is letterboxed on all 4 sides. It shows up as not much bigger than my laptop screen in size.
Is there a setting I'm missing or is that just the way it is because of my laptop's resolution or ??
Thanks in advance!

 

Most HDTV monitors have a Stretch, Super Stretch, or similar setting when the output video isn't quite large enough to fit the screen. However, you also need to remember that the incoming video resolution isn't determined by your notebook player, but by the HDTV itself. Some notebook GPU's (e.g., NVIDIA) allow you to control the output video color, gamma, brightness, etc., but the HDTV also has its own settings.

BD movies also have Video settings which will affect how it's viewed - 16:9, 4:3, Full Screen, Pan & Scan, e.g. Always make sure it's set properly for what you want to view.

Also, if your HDTV isn't full HD (it's 1080i (720p) and not 1080p), that also has an effect on a 1080p playback format.

1. Make sure your BD movie's playback is set correctly in the Video setup area.
2. Make sure your HDTV is set to detect the incoming video resolution - 1080p for Blu-Ray.
3. Check your HDTV's own Video Format setting - it should be set to 16:9 or Letterbox.
4. Check any other pertinent HDTV setting affecting Video.

 

Thanks for the response. I will try what you suggested & report here when I get a chance.
I'm kind of surprised more people haven't had this problem.