How good is HD supposed to be?

[Budge]

I have been downloading using tv prefs flashhd, flashvhigh and when 
viewed on laptop I have always been satisfied with the picture quality.

I have recently purchased a projector and to test network installation I 
tried projecting a downloaded programme; with rather disappointing 
results.  Picture was dimmer than expected with vertical scan lines 
visible.  (Not yet tried Bluray which will be normal source but not set 
up yet on lan)

Meanwhile Mediainfo gives the following on the file I used:-

General
Complete name                            : 
/home/alastair/mastermedia/Videos/The_Night_Manager/The_Night_Manager_-_1._Episode_1_p03g14d5_default.mp4
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media
Codec ID                                 : isom
File size                                : 990 MiB
Duration                                 : 57mn 30s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 2 406 Kbps
Season                                   : 1
Movie name                               : The Night Manager
Album                                    : The Night Manager
Album/Performer                          : BBC TV
Part                                     : 1
Part/Position                            : 1
Track name/Position                      : 1
Grouping                                 : Drama,Thriller
Performer                                : BBC One
Composer                                 : BBC iPlayer
Genre                                    : Drama
ContentType                              : TV Show
Description                              : Hotel night manager Jonathan 
Pine is drawn into the world of arms dealer Richard Roper.
Recorded date                            : UTC 2016-02-21 21:00:00
Tagged date                              : UTC 2016-02-22 18:32:55
Writing application                      : Lavf56.40.101
Copyright                                : 2016 British Broadcasting 
Corporation, all rights reserved
Cover                                    : Yes
Lyrics                                   : Hotel night manager Jonathan 
Pine receives a plea for help from a well-connected guest. His actions 
draw him into the world of Richard Roper, a businessman and arms dealer. 
/  / EPISODE / http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p03g14d5 /  / SERIES 
/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03g13rt
Comment                                  : Hotel night manager Jonathan 
Pine is drawn into the world of arms dealer Richard Roper.
Part_ID                                  : s01e01
TVNetworkName                            : BBC One

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High at L4.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 2 frames
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 57mn 30s
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 2 307 Kbps
Maximum bit rate                         : 3 500 Kbps
Width                                    : 1 280 pixels
Height                                   : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 25.000 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.100
Stream size                              : 949 MiB (96%)

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile                           : LC
Codec ID                                 : 40
Duration                                 : 57mn 30s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 93.5 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 38.4 MiB (4%)

The aspect ratio of 16:9 seems OK but 1280x 720 pixels seems low.  Is 
there any way I can get better resolution?
Projector is capable of "4K" resolution let alone "full HD."
What is the best I can expect using GiP and do I have it already or not?