Netflix brought back A Different World of AI-upscaled nightmare fuel

Archive: https://archive.is/2025.03.07-174511/https://www.theverge.com/news/625904/netflix-a-different-world-ai-upscaling-nightmare

A Different World was previously available to stream on Max and Prime Video, which both support the show’s original 4:3 format, before coming to Netflix where it’s now cropped to 16:9. These AI upscaling issues haven’t arisen for the show on other platforms before, but Netflix itself may not have been responsible. As noted by Gizmodo, the licensing rights to A Different World are held by the Carsey-Werner production company, which also owns Roseanne — another 1980s sitcom that’s similarly blighted with ugly AI upscaling on Peacock.