Cheap HD DVD player coming--format war rages on

Will this cheap HD DVD player change the format war?

(Credit: Venturer Electronics)

The format war is far from over, but HD DVD is on a roll--at least as far as PR is concerned. Last week the big news was both Paramount and DreamWorks becoming HD DVD-exclusive studios, and now Venturer Electronics has announced it will release a budget HD DVD player--the SHD7000--by the 2007 holiday season. There have been several reports indicating that cheaper, off-brand HD DVD players were on their way, but Venturer is the first company to make a formal announcement.

Details are a little slim at the moment, but here's what we know. The SHD7000 has an HDMI port capable of outputting video at 1080i. That's comparable to Toshiba's HD-A2, and as long as your HDTV has decent 1080i deinterlacing, you should still get very good image quality with a 1080i signal (assuming it is of comparable quality to the HD-A2). According to the press release, the SHD7000 also has onboard Dolby TrueHD decoding. The HD DVD spec only requires players to be able to decode two channels of Dolby TrueHD, so we don't know for sure if the SHD7000 will be able to decode multichannel Dolby TrueHD soundtracks (to date, all HD DVD players have handled 5.1 TrueHD decoding.) Like all other HD DVD players, the SHD7000 also has an Ethernet port, so it should be capable of playing networked enabled special features, as seen on titles like Blood Diamond. The press release also states that it will be able to upconvert regular DVDs and play standard audio CDs.

The press release doesn't mention a price yet, but VideoBusiness is reporting a $199 MSRP. On the other hand, poster Robert Spalding over at AVS Forum claims to have received an e-mail indicating the street price will be closer to $150. We certainly can't vouch for that street price--it remains firmly in the rumor mill for now--but a $150 HD DVD player could have a big effect on the format war, especially with the cheapest Blu-ray players still around the $500 mark. We've contacted Venturer for more information on the pricing of the SHD7000 and will update this post accordingly.

[make_or_break]

$199 isn't THAT exciting

It's 20% less than what Costco's been selling the HD-A2 for recently, but doesn't seem all that worthy a mention for a device that doesn't have any sort of brand name recognition.

$150 OTOH is a STEEP drop from the HD-A2's current pricing, and bring HD devices that much closer to that magical $100 mark. And it's enough of difference from the Toshiba--assuming that the HD-A2 itself doesn't lower its price again in the meantime--to make an off-brand purchase seem palatable.

[barrington thompson]

Are the cheapest HD DVD & Blu-ray players a con?

Only idiots would place the cheapest price higher than;
Reliability, features, Picture and Sound qualities.

[make_or_break]

I dunno...only time will tell if...

...cheap HD players are worth the money. But most everyone now buys cheap DVD players these days, and they don't seem to be complaining much. And I've certainly bought some REALLY expensive gear over the years only to have them crap out JUST LIKE the el cheapo stuff is supposed to (think 'Nakamichi'...just DON'T buy...).

[McPlot]

Nail in the coffen

If the rumor is true and a $150 HD DVD player is released, it will be a major nail in the coffen for Blu-Ray. A good upscalling DVD player is $100 to $130. If a HD DVD player for $150 comes out, people may pay the $20 to $50 more to get true HD DVD plus upconversion. Sony can scream until they are Blu in the face that they are the best. But most consumers want affordable over the best. They will spend $150-$200 way sooner then $500-$900. I wish Sony learned from their mistakes with BetaMax, LaserDisc, and everyother failed format they have come up with. But they still have not seen the light.

BetaMax is the best example. It was the best format at the time. It has a far better picture then VHS, and it was smaller. But Sony kept the price of the players high, and the price for movie studios to create movies for BetaMax high. In their greed, they killed a good format.

So to you Blu-Ray. While you have your PS3 Blu-Ballers behind you at the moment, you have not sold many actual stand alone players. While Blu-Ray movies are outselling HD DVD for the time being due to the PS3 owners, the attach rate (number of movies sold vs players sold) is horrible, while the attach rate of HD DVD is way better. Face it, the games are not buying movies. They get one or two because they can. Then it is all gaming for them.

It is too soon to say if either Blu-Ray or HD DVD will win. I have heard of two other HD standards coming out. Maybe one of them will take over. Who knows. But at this point, Sony is killing Blu-Ray by price alone.