| Captain_Yuri said: Why does Netflix only have HD versions of TNG and Enterprise? |
I can't speak to Voyager, but Netflix doesn't have HD version of DS9 because there is no HD version of DS9.
Both it and Voyager released at a time when NTSC/PAL was as good as it got for broadcast video.
TNG fanbase is large enough to justify remastering it at HD, but that never happened for DS9.
Notably, all of DS9's live scenes were shot in 35mm, which is more than enough for full 4K quality if rescanned.
(live shots include a good amount of model ships, although later in series there is transition to more CGI usage there)
The official problem is that no original files for CGI were kept, only the 480i NTSC (+PAL?) tapes at low resolution.
Although AFAIK most of CGI is for stuff like Odo "morphing" where IMHO lack of high resolution wouldn't be noticeable.
Somebody actually made demo videos using "AI" programs to upscale NTSC to 4K, that showed good results. (@Youtube)
Although if original 35mm could be rescanned, the job of such program would be much easier (only CGI/compositing).
Regardless of specifics, I think it is mostly a matter of cost of remaster not seen as "worth it" for size of DS9 fan base,
although I believe that rationale was originally based on idea that all CGI would have to be fully redone from scratch,
as well as re-compositing everything from new 4K scans of 35m film, whereas as using "AI upscaling" either on the
NTSC tapes directly, or combined with new 4K scans of 35mm film (for higher quality with less need for AI upscaling),
would be substantially easier and less costly, so who knows it MAY someday be done if there is audience for DS9.
EDIT: side-by-side unofficial 4K upscale comparison https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtP4Hv665Yg
Last edited by mutantsushi - on 20 November 2020
