"A Different World" Upscaling is Not Good

 “A Different World” (1987 NBC) is now on Netflix, and the HD upscale is... not good.

The show was shot and mastered on video in 4:3. The version on Netflix is cropped to 16:9, and has significant ML sharpening and odd softening. The show looks both over-crisp and gauzy/dreamy.

Many shots have a flicker, too. And, this is the fun one - any shot with text gets really garbled.

These screengrabs are all from "A Different World" on Netflix, s01e01.

Contrast this with the classic MTV Unplugged (1989) that just dropped on Paramount+. Like "A Different World", the show was shot and mastered on video in 4:3. And they're presented on Paramount+ in the proper aspect ratio, without excessive sharpening. The upscaling did a terrific job of eliminating any scanline artifacts (if there were any!). To my eyes, this is the proper way to show 4:3 video content on a modern streaming service.