UPDATE: Venturer HD DVD Player to Sell For Under $200

At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, word got out about a potential new HD DVD player, made in China and sold inexpensively, coming to market by the end of the year. On Tuesday, word came that that player is on the way: Canadian company Venturer Electronics will release the player, called the SHD7000, to the North American market- and the company said Wednesday that the player will sell for an MSRP of $199.

The company has not yet announced any retail partners for the venture.

The SHD7000, the company said, will feature an HDMI connection which will upconvert standard DVD to “near-HD-picture quality,” as well as Ethernet connectivity, Dolby TrueHD sound, and CD playback. The new player joins various offerings from primary HD DVD backer Toshiba, as well as Onkyo’s DV-HD805, which is set for release this fall, and Microsoft’s Xbox add-on drive as HD DVD-only players. LG has already released a dual-format player, and one is on the way from Samsung.