Toshiba has confirmed that it will be delaying the launch of its two next generation HD DVD players in the UK.

Toshiba issued a statement late Tuesday night stating that "Toshiba engineers identifing a minor reliability issue with an outsourced LSI component during final production testing of the company's HD-E1 model."

The delay means that home cinema fans hoping to get there hands on Toshiba's next generation DVD players will have to wait a further month for the HD-E1 and until January for the HD-XE1 HD DVD player.

Toshiba said in a statement to Pocket-lint:

"Due to Toshiba’s commitment to providing the highest quality product possible, this component is being replaced before the HD-E1 is released to consumers.

The shipment of HD-E1 units to the UK market is consequently expected to be delayed, although a quantity of units will be shipped for retail in December.

These changes in the manufacturing schedule will also result in production of the HD-XE1 model being revised to January 2007.

The news means that fans of the format, which is going head to head against Sony's Blu-ray will have to otp for Microsoft's bolt on HD DVD drive for its games console, the Xbox 360.

Both formats have had trouble getting players to the market with current only Samsung offering next generation HD support with its BD-P1000 Blu-ray player.

We will keep you posted.