Those of you that have been following the format war know that there was some pretty big news last week. This news was the announcement that both Paramount and DreamWorks are becoming HD DVD-exclusive studios, brining blockbuster movies like Transformers and Shrek the Third with them. What caused this change of heart? Brad Grey, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures said, “I believe HD DVD is not only the affordable high-quality choice for consumers, but also the smart choice for Paramount”. Of course rumor has it that a $150 million exclusivity agreement helped things a bit.
More positive news for the HD-DVD camp came out this week when Venturer Electronics announced that it will release a budget HD DVD player (SHD7000) this holiday season. People have expected that cheaper HD-DVD players were coming soon, but Venturer is the first to make an announcement. Pretty much all that is known about the player at this point is that the SHD7000 has an HDMI port capable of outputting video at 1080i and onboard Dolby TrueHD decoding. The player will be able to upconvert regular DVDs as well as play standard audio CDs. Price was not announced in the press release, but most are expecting the price to be around $150 – $199.