The “best” TV you could buy in 2005, television shows specifically appeared to be “high quality” or “clear” and now if you watch a show that is directly uploaded from the producers (circumventing continuous compression from file transfers) you can tell it’s out dated just based on the quality of the show (aside from cultural cues such as fashion, vehicles etc)
tl’dr : I was watching T.C.A.P w/ Chris Hansen on TV when it was aired, watching it now I can tell how old it is based on the quality of the recording.
In: 878
Tl;dr SD looks great in SD and like crap in HD
2005 was still the SD era. The HD transition wasn’t until 2009. Even then, many things made for television weren’t in full HD until later.
Several episodic TV shows from about 1990-2005 were shot on videotape. Those will never look “good” in HD formats because the data just isn’t there. On the flip side shows that shot on film, the prime example is Star Trek The Next Generation, can scan the films into an HD format.
Someone else may be able to find it, but there was a
picture a while back of a sprite on an SD game that looks great when viewed in an SD resolution, but looks like chonky garbage when upscaled to HD.
Edit: because apparently people are getting hung up on the date. June 2009 was when OTA broadcasts ceased being in SD. Yes, live sporting events were in HD but a lot of, especially cheaper, shows shot on videotape. There is no HD version of those without upscaling.
One other point: videotape and film have a “look,” which many modern digital systems try to emulate. It really boils down to chemistry. But if the show you’re watching was shot (or mastered) in SD and shot on a physical medium, it’ll have a look to it (unless treated in post). It’s the same reason “Polaroid” has a look.
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