High-definition pre-recorded media and compression
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The first attempt at producing pre-recorded HDTV media was a scarce Japanese analog MUSE-encoded laser disc which is no longer produced (see MUSE-LD).
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In the U.S. market, the first currently[when?] available prerecorded HD media was D-Theater. Comprising less than 100 titles and utilizing a 28-Mbit/s MPEG2 stream at 720p or 1080i with either Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS encoding, D-Theater is an encrypted D-VHS format, and only D-Theater-capable D-VHS players can play back these tapes. This format is superior to broadcast HDTV due to its higher bandwidth and, of course, the ability to do non-realtime optimization of the encoding, which is not possible with broadcast HDTV. D-Theater is currently a small niche market even within the niche HDTV community, and it appears as if the final D-Theater title was published in 2005 with the 20th Century Fox release of I, Robot.
In 2006, the first pre-recorded digital optical HDTV media were introduced. There were two competing standards, Blu-ray and HD DVD. The first HD DVD players and discs were released in the United States on April 18, 2006, while Blu-ray was released on June 20, 2006.