Digital Restoration

Upscaling to 4K, Explained: Why Your Old Footage Never Looks as Sharp as You Hoped

This article explains the technical limitations of upscaling older video footage to 4K resolution. It details how 4K resolution is defined and contrasts it with lower resolutions like 1080p, highlighting that upscaling cannot invent detail that was never captured. The piece discusses traditional interpolation and newer AI-driven methods, noting that both have limitations and can introduce artifacts or soften images. The restoration of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is used as an example of a high-quality, expensive process that begins with original film negatives.