Seinfeld has proved to be a big Autumn signing for Netflix who have given the classic comedy series a 4K upgrade for their streaming platform.
However, that picture quality boost has taken an unexpected tale on the level of laughs for ardent fans of the show, and it isn’t for the sake of lo-fi nostalgia purists either.
As it happens, in order to grant the show crisp resolution, Netflix has opted for a more modern-looking 16:9 aspect, instead of offering the original 4:3 aspect ratio in which the show originally aired.
This switch-up of the aspect ratio for the sake of visual quality has meant that sadly certain subtle jokes have been cut from the centre of the screen and condemned to the ash heap of lo-fi history.
Having chased out over $500 million USD for the rights of the show, it perhaps isn’t all that surprising that they are proving protective over the restoral project, but it has already upset some fans.
The issues faced are perhaps best emphasised by the Tweet below, which shows how the changing of the aspect ratio resulted in a pothole being cut from shot, thus ruining the relevance of a rant that was rendered outside of the realm of widescreen.
Other hitches have also been spotted by ardent fans, while others argue that the occasional cropped chuckle is a necessary evil to bring the show forth in HD glory.