Another month, another consumer electronics show, and once again the backers of the rival HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats come to attempt to persuade us their favoured format is winning the war. The IFA show in Berlin last week was no exception - so how is battle faring now?

The BD boys were up first, pointing to their format's lead in US for the 12-month period from 12 August 2006. According to Nielsen VideoScan sales stats, HD DVD outsold BD until around Christmas, but since then BD has been ahead - though it's come very close to falling behind on a couple of occasions.

Call this a dose of healthy consumer skepticism. The HD DVD Promotions Group has often pointed to the fact that Chinese manufacturers had committed to building low-cost HD DVD players. Up until now, those manufacturers have been missing in action: Toshiba has generated all of the price activity on the HD DVD front. Venturer Electronics, headquartered in Markham, Ontario, Canada, is the North American brand for one such Hong Kong-based manufacturer, Alco Electronics.