Yes, you read that right: the latest HD player is coming to a shopping channel near you – QVC to be precise. Out on December 29th, the Venturer SHD7001 will almost certainly be the cheapest HD player on the market – we expect it to retail around the £200 mark, though an official price remains embargoed – and it will initially only be available from QVC...
We first heard of Venturer's plans at the IFA Show in Berlin, at which time a press release for the SHD7000 was doing the rounds. We never saw this machine, and it appears it has now morphed in to the SHD7001, though specs seem similar.
The new player will deliver best quality 1080i HD video via HDMI, and upscale DVDs to the same resolution. For audio, there's support for Dolby Digital Plus, TrueHD and DTS HD, though the latter in 'core' format only.
In terms of connectivity, there's HDMI, component and composite outputs, plus 2-channel analogue outputs and a digital optical connection. Completing the list is an Ethernet port.
As mentioned, the SHD7001 will initially only be available via QVC TV Home Shopping Channel – Freeview channel 16 – from the 29th December, on which day it will be 'featured product of the day'!
For more information on this, see Venturer's own website and the QVC website. We hope to bring you a review of the unit in our February issue, out January 10th...
