The "S01" distinction is crucial. Season one of DS9 (Emissary through Duet) has a specific aesthetic problem: soft lighting and heavy grain. Later seasons (4-7) had better lighting and higher bitrates on the DVDs. By focusing on Season One, the 2020 project targeted the worst looking episodes first, yielding the most dramatic "wow factor."
2020 was the perfect storm for this release. With the maturation of AI video software (Topaz AI had just updated to v1.5) and millions of Trekkies stuck at home looking for a long-form binge, the demand for a high-quality DS9 experience exploded. The "Hot" moniker also refers to the controversy—Paramount sent cease-and-desist letters to similar projects, but this one survived via encrypted torrents.
Most upscalers start with later seasons because the lighting and film stock were better. But Season 1 of DS9 is notoriously hard to upscale. It is dark, moody, and full of optical effects (like the wormhole opening). Why did the 2020 release gain the "hot" tag?
The 2020 AI upscale wave was a proof of concept. It proved that there was a massive, hungry market for DS9 in HD. It forced fans to confront the reality that without a studio-funded 4K scan of the negatives, we were essentially polishing a rough stone.
While unofficial, these upscales became the definitive way to watch the series for the hardcore fanbase, breathing new life into "Emissary" and the inaugural season. They stand as a testament to fan dedication—fixing the mistakes of a studio that refused to preserve its own history.
Verdict: It is the best the show has ever looked at home, until the day Paramount decides to open the vaults.
To upscale Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) Season 1 to 1080p using AI, you can follow the methods popularized by major fan projects like Project Defiant The DS9 Upscale Project Core Requirements star trek deep space 9 s01 ai upscale 1080p 2020 hot
A modern NVIDIA GPU is strongly recommended (GTX 1080 or better) because many AI tools like Topaz Video AI rely heavily on CUDA for efficient processing The industry standard for these fan projects is Topaz Video AI (formerly Video Enhance AI). Source Material:
High-quality DVD rips (ISO or MKV) are necessary to provide the cleanest starting point. Step-by-Step Guide Prepare the Source Footage Rip the DVDs: Use tools like DVD Decrypter to create an ISO or uncompressed rip of your DS9 discs. Inverse Telecine (IVTC):
DS9 is often stored as interlaced footage. You must de-interlace and restore it to its original 23.976 fps film rate before upscaling. Tools like VapourSynth are recommended for this step to avoid artifacts. AI Upscaling with Topaz Video AI Load your de-interlaced episodes into the software. Select Model: For Season 1, which can be grainier, the Artemis Low Quality (LQ)
models are frequently used to manage noise while adding detail. Resolution: Set the output to
. Some projects prefer upscaling to 4K first and then downscaling to 1080p (referred to as "1080p+") to "lock in" the detail and reduce file size. Post-Processing and Assembly Export as PNGs (Optional): Some experts recommend exporting as a PNG image sequence
to prevent data loss if the PC crashes during the 8–10 hour render per episode. Reassemble: If you used images, reassemble them into a video using DaVinci Resolve Add the original audio and subtitles back using MKVToolNix Known Public Projects The "S01" distinction is crucial
If you prefer not to process the files yourself, several groups released completed versions in 2020:
Project Defiant: DS9 1080p+ Upscale Now Available : r/startrek
TLDR: DS9 upscale is here. Skip all the way to the bottom for instructions on where to get it. We've opted to release it in 1080p+
Blog Title: The Wormhole Opens Wide: Why the 2020 “Hot” AI Upscale of DS9 S01 in 1080p is a Game Changer
Posted by: [Your Name] Date: October 26, 2023 Category: Fan Edits / Trek Tech
If you lived through the dark ages of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fandom, you remember the struggle. For years, we’ve been told that DS9—the darkest, grittiest, and arguably best-written Trek—would never get the HD remaster it deserves. Unlike The Next Generation, which had lavish (and expensive) 35mm film elements ready to go, DS9 was finished on video tape. To remaster it properly would cost millions in recompositing VFX shots. Blog Title: The Wormhole Opens Wide: Why the
So we waited. We squinted at our DVDs. We begged Paramount.
Then, the fan community took matters into its own hands.
Enter the 2020 "Hot" AI Upscale of DS9 Season 1 to 1080p.
In the fan restoration world, not all upscales are created equal. The 2020 release (often tagged with "Hot" in the title to denote a specific encoder's settings or a particularly aggressive sharpening model) was a watershed moment.
Using modern Machine Learning algorithms (think ESRGAN or Topaz Video Enhance AI), a dedicated fan took the grainy, soft standard-definition DVDs and fed them through a neural network trained on high-quality film grain and edge detection.
The results for Season 1—historically the softest, most dated looking season—are nothing short of miraculous.