Star Trek Social Club

PAL the format has a higher resolution but DS9’s production process was for NTSC. They would not have redone the series in PAL so that version is likely scaled the lower resolution up to the PAL resolution along with the speed artifacts described.

I think the AI upscales we have now are a novelty but not a substitute for the DVD masters. Additionally, Marvin Rush used specific camera techniques to isolate characters from the background in the early seasons which in hindsight can the image looks undersaturated and muddy.

LCD technology is pretty poor at scaling up non-native resolutions, even in 2026. DVD is probably the best quality but your mileage may vary based on the screen you use. Streaming imposed an additional penalty due to additional artifacting from the low resolution and the usual penalty of increased blur and smudging during camera motion.

Counterintuitively, using an old CRT screen or a filter component like ShaderGlass or RetroArch will process the image in such a way that tightens up the blurriness the image and will let your eyes relax.

As much as I wish DS9 HD was a thing, it will almost certainly remain an artifact of contemporary production. There are ways to mitigate that reality, but no way to change it.

Currently watching in DVD quality and I’m enjoying it. Not a fan of upscaling, too uncanny.

Upscaling can be ok but I honestly hate the way upscaled content looks. Faces end up looking mushy and motion is often awful (since some nerds think the frame rate needs to be interpolated, which makes it look awful.) So I still watch my DVD SD rip which is good enough for me.

I won't poo poo the idea of watching it upscaled if that's what you want, but I'd stress that you should keep good notes on your files (via filename) so that you know what modifications have been made. This is only because metadata of video files are too lacking in this new era where videos are often modified, and it's becoming really difficult to fine the original authentic files for anything these days. Assuming you care about that sort of thing.

AI upscaled ruin details on the aliens. Bajoran noses, Klingon foreheads, Trill spots all get blurred out rather than enhanced. Kills it for me

The LaserDisc version of DS9 is available on archive.org, seasons 1 to 3. The aspect ratio is wrong for me when watching it in the browser. Download the files directly and watch locally.

Live long and enjoy :)

This is the first I have heard of AI upscaling. If it makes people happy, the good for them. It's always great when people watch great content like this long after it aired.

Personally, I prefer to stick with the originals. In this case, DVD rips since i no longer watch DVDs. If the streaming versions have been updated, then I watch those just fine. I don't care about the difference between Blu-ray or standard DVD. No need for special processing.

It's the stories that matter most to me.

I don't watch 4k television. I don't have dolby surround sound. When I update hardware, I usually disable various technologies that supposedly make the experience better. (Like that feature that makes everything look like a soap opera).

Things like film grain don't bother me. It's what I grew up with. I always watch media with captions. I like foreign films and television. Black and white can be great. Etcetera.

The story and great acting. That's what I love.

The upscaled version has weird interlacing artifacts that can be distracting.

I got a new tv during my watch through of ds9 and honestly the best way to watch either format is on an OLED tv. All the angsty dark scenes and artistic lighting look amazing when the blacks aren't dark grey.

There's a couple scenes on Klingon ships that look amazing even in 'low' res.

The upscaled version you'll find online is not good. The best way is to find the least compressed DVD version you can. It looks great.

The redefined series looks so good, and the site shows they're doing VOY as well? 😲

Personally I also would like to see the upscaled ones. Have never found a link

That is some terrible upscaling. I would at the least try to run it through an upscaler like SeedVR2 but that would take quite a bit of time on consumer grade hardware