The AI Upscaling Nightmare: When Nostalgia Gets Grotesque

The allure of revisiting cherished television shows from the past is a powerful one. We seek comfort in familiar faces, witty banter, and storylines that once captivated us. Streaming services, eager to capitalize on this nostalgia, offer a vast library of classic content at our fingertips. However, a disturbing trend is emerging that threatens to tarnish these beloved memories: the aggressive use of AI upscaling, often with disastrous results.

Take, for instance, the versions of Roseanne streaming on Peacock and A Different World available on Netflix. What should be a pleasant trip down memory lane has become a jarring experience, riddled with visual anomalies that border on the surreal. Eyes seem to float independently within their sockets, faces appear to melt and distort, and the intricate details that once defined the background of shots are now reduced to indecipherable blobs. Text, particularly, suffers immensely, transforming legible words into bizarre, alien glyphs.

This unsettling phenomenon isn’t merely a matter of slightly enhanced resolution. These shows have been subjected to an AI upscaling process that attempts to convert their original broadcast format into a higher resolution, often 4K. The intention, presumably, is to make these shows look better on modern, high-definition televisions. Unfortunately, the outcome is far from desirable. Instead of clarity and enhanced detail, viewers are greeted with a hallucinatory mess that actively detracts from the viewing experience.

The issues with A Different World were first brought to light by Scott Hanselman, who documented the unsettling visual distortions on his TikTok account. This sparked wider discussion, with Futurism and other outlets highlighting the horrifying results of the upscaling process. The ultimate, perhaps unintentional, consequence of this technology is that viewers can now witness Bill Cosby’s face seemingly melting while he plays chess in 4K, a disturbing image that clashes violently with the nostalgic appeal of the show.

While it’s tempting to immediately point the finger at Netflix for these visual atrocities, the reality is likely more complex. Streaming services, while often criticized for the quality of their content, may not be directly responsible for the remastering process itself. Netflix, for example, doesn’t own the rights to A Different World and therefore has little incentive to alter the show’s presentation and then upload the altered version. The show’s presence on the platform is likely temporary, destined to disappear at some point due to licensing agreements.

The true culprit behind this AI upscaling nightmare is likely the production companies that own the rights to these shows and license them out to various streaming platforms. In the case of A Different World and Roseanne, the finger points to The Carsey-Werner Company, a production house responsible for numerous sitcoms, including That ’70s Show and 3rd Rock From the Sun.

All ten seasons of Roseanne on Peacock have been similarly affected by the grotesque AI upscaling process. While Roseanne fares slightly better than A Different World, the telltale signs of AI manipulation are still present. Faces shimmer unnaturally, eyes dart around within their sockets as if trying to escape, and text is rendered as complete gibberish. This is particularly noticeable in later seasons where Roseanne runs a diner called The Lanford Lunch Box. The menus and wall decorations, covered in text, are reduced to a bizarre jumble of unrecognizable shapes.

The remastering of Roseanne is a recent development. Carsey-Werner proudly announced the remastering initiative, claiming that it combined "advanced AI with skilled creative artistry to honor the original content while meeting modern viewing and technical standards." They stated the process transformed the original 4×3 standard definition prints into enhanced 16×9 masters, with improvements including noise and grain reduction, color correction, stabilization, and enhanced audio.

However, the reality falls far short of this idealized vision. The remastering does not "honor the original content." Instead, it has rendered the content grotesque, a pale imitation of its former self. Something once beautiful and familiar has been destroyed by a process seemingly driven by cost-cutting and a lack of understanding of the source material.

Even the promotional video released by Carsey-Werner to showcase the remaster is riddled with AI artifacts. Sharon Stone’s eyes exhibit the telltale signs of AI manipulation, and the text on DJ’s seat after he stands up is noticeably distorted.

Carsey-Werner has yet to publicly comment on the specific process used for the remastering. However, Variety reports that the job was outsourced to Performance Post, a company specializing in roto-scoping, editing, and digital mastering.

There’s a certain degree of sympathy to be had here. Watching older shows on modern televisions presents inherent challenges. The original resolution, often 480p or 360p in a 4:3 aspect ratio, can appear blurry and strange on large 4K screens. However, with careful and loving restoration, it’s possible to make these shows look incredible without resorting to the destructive effects of AI upscaling.

Cheers, a show that began airing in 1982, serves as a prime example of a restoration done right. While it remains in its original 4:3 aspect ratio and retains some film grain, the overall visual quality is excellent and respectful to the source material. The remaster of The X-Files is another success story. The process involved going back to the original masters, cleaning them up, and expanding the frame to fit a 16:9 aspect ratio while maintaining the integrity of the original footage. Star Trek: The Next Generation received similar treatment, resulting in a stunning visual upgrade that enhances, rather than detracts from, the viewing experience.

However, these high-quality remasters require significant investments of time, money, and expertise. The remastering of Star Trek: The Next Generation, for example, cost a reported $70,000 per episode. These projects were undertaken with meticulous care by skilled archivists who understood the importance of preserving the original intent of the creators.

It’s unlikely that any company would be willing to spend even a fraction of that amount to remaster an episode of A Different World for streaming on Netflix. AI upscaling, despite its disastrous results, is undoubtedly faster and cheaper.

The unfortunate truth is that the only way to ensure the preservation of art you love is to take matters into your own hands. Streaming services are becoming increasingly unreliable as custodians of classic content. There’s no guarantee that you’ll be seeing the best version of your favorite show, or that it will even be available to watch next month.

Therefore, it’s crucial to become your own archivist. Hold on to digital prints, buy physical media whenever possible. However, even these measures are not foolproof. Hard drives fail, VHS tapes degrade, and DVDs can rot over time. All things are subject to decay and eventual obsolescence.

However, this inevitability doesn’t mean we should passively accept the resurrection of old shows through new technologies that degrade, demean, and ultimately destroy them. We must demand better from the companies that hold the rights to these shows and the streaming services that distribute them. The memories and emotions associated with these shows are too precious to be sacrificed on the altar of cheap, AI-driven "enhancements."