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First “generic” HD DVD player announced

HD DVD supporters have certainly had a good week, and this week they’re greeted with an announcement from Venturer Electronics about their upcoming HD DVD player. The SHD7000 will be available to the North American market “in time for 2007 holiday sales” in national retailers.

The Venturer player will meet the minimum specifications for HD DVD, including Dolby TrueHD support, ethernet jack, and DVD/CD playback. Additionally, it comes with an HDMI jack with 1080i output. There is no word on if the player will send bitstream audio over HDMI or if it has 5.1 analog outputs.

Venturer isn’t a household name, but they import product from cheap Chinese factories, badge them under several brand names (second-tier, of course). The player is expected to at least match the low cost of the cheapest Toshiba player, if not beat that price ($299 USD). Speculation is Wal-Mart will be carrying this player.

I can’t speak of the quality of the player, but this may end up being a strength for HD DVD. If only the average consumer would learn the difference between HDTV and DVD we might be able to get the high-def market to accelerate.

UPDATE: Venturer has confirmed on email to WesleyTech that “The US retail price will be $199.99″. High resolutions photos or additional details on the player specifications were unavailable at this time.

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