IFA 07 UK consumer electronics company - yes, we have a few - Venturer has pledged to bring HD DVD to the mass market with a slimline player set to retail for under £200 and €300.

Venturer's SHD7000: cut-price 1080i

Launched at the IFA consumer electronics show last week, the SHD7000 runs to 1080i HD output via an HDMI 1.2 port. It has composite-, component- and s-video ports too. It's got Dolby TrueHD sound processing on board too, along with analogue and digital audio ports.

Venturer didn't offer any more details about the player beyond pointing to a in-time-for-Christmas release date.

Separately, Toshiba said it would release a third-generation HD DVD player in Europe, one offering 1080p resolution - so-called 'full HD' - and retailing for around €400.

Toshiba's HD-EP35: 1080p, 24p output

The HD-EP30 is the European version of the HD-A30 Toshiba launched last month in the US. It's capable of cinema-style 24 frames per second output on a suitably compatible HDTV through its HDMI port, but it also has composite- and component-video ports too, and stereo analogue and multi-channel digital audio feeds.

Toshiba also launched the HD-EP35 based on the recently announced HD-A35. This model offers the same specs as the HD-EP30, but adds 7.1 bitsteam High Bit Rate audio and Deep Colour through digital links, and 5.1-channel sound through its analogue audio ports.

Both are due to go on sale in October. The HD-EP35 will retail for around €499.