Hi Cinda, welcome to the forum!
First off, given the receiver and TV that you have, it is possible for you to realize some of the benefits that Blu-Ray VIDEO has to offer over standard DVD (your TV supports 720p and 1080i, but not the full 1080p of Blu-Ray). However, I'm sorry to say that the Blu-Ray player that you have will not allow you to realize any of the AUDIO benefits of Blu-Ray over DVD.
For the audio, your receiver does not internally decode the new, lossless audio codecs that Blu-Ray provides, but it DOES have 7.1 analog inputs. What this means is that if you get a Blu-Ray player with 7.1 analog outputs (usually a feature not found on base models), then you can have the player decode the surround sound into the 7.1 channels, and then use regular RCA-style cables to feed the high-resolution audio to your receiver. The Blu-Ray that you have does not feature 7.1 analog outputs.
Doing a quick check, Amazon.com currently has a great price on a really good
Panasonic player
that has the analog outputs. If it's an option, you may want to consider returning the HP player and picking up the Panasonic. Doing so will allow you to reap additional benefit from making the switch to Blu-Ray.
Whichever way you go, here's how you'd hook it up:
For the video signal, you have a choice. You can connect via HDMI directly from the Blu-Ray to the TV, or you can connect via component video cables (three RCA-style connectors) to your receiver, and then out (with a second component cable) to your TV. If you already have a video source (like HD cable or satellite) then you probably already have it hooked up in a similar fashion, and you won't need to add the cable from the receiver to the TV.
Particularly if you already have a source connected via component cables, I would go the component cable route. Component cables are capable of carrying a 720p or 1080i signal, which is all your TV supports, anyway, and by having a single video connection running from the receiver to the TV, you only need to switch sources on your receiver when you go from watching cable/satellite to Blu-Ray. HDMI really provides no benefit beyond component cables in your case. You can find quality component cables at very reasonable prices at
monoprice.com.
For the audio, if you stick with the player you have now, you can use a standard digital optical (Toslink) or digital coaxial cable (RCA-style) to carry the audio signal out from the player to the receiver. If you get a player with the analog outputs, you can pick up
4 pairs of audio cables from monoprice.
Sorry to get so long-winded, but I wanted to make sure you understood why you would benefit even more with a slightly more feature-rich Blu-Ray player.
Good luck!
Jason
