Notable Changes in TNG Remastered

by Jörg Hillebrand, TrekCoreand Bernd Schneider

Season 1Season 2Season 3Season 4Season 5Season 6Season 7

 

The remastered version of TNG on Blu-ray was created based on the originally filmed shots wherever possible. Some shots, however, were deliberately changed, either to fix bloopers or because the original footage was deemed too poor for inclusion in HD. Here are some notable examples.

 

Season 1

Description TNG Comparison TNG to TNG-R Description TNG-R
Backgrounds that should have motion in it are sometimes static in the original release. In TNG-R: "Encounter at Farpoint", the water in the stream in the background is running and the leaves of the plants are moving.
In TNG-R: "Haven", the waves are now in motion.
In the original version of "The Naked Now" the depiction of the refitted (Movie) Enterprise does not comply with the mention of the TOS: "The Naked Time" incident in the dialogue. In TNG-R: "The Naked Now" the Movie Enterprise side view was replaced with the TOS version.
In the original version of "The Last Outpost", the graphics in the upper left-hand corner were upside down (as evidenced by the graphic of the Federation logo). In TNG-R: "The Last Outpost", the error has been fixed.
The holographic display in "The Last Outpost" shows two rotating images. One is flipped, so the person at the other side of the observation lounge table sees the images the right side around. When the display switches to the star charts, the aft image is no longer flipped.

The small error was corrected when the footage of the Tkon star charts was recomposited for TNG-R: "The Last Outpost".

Mike Okuda: "In the tabletop hologram in 'The Last Outpost,' note that one side of the rotating image is now flipped, even though the images themselves are identical to the original."

The last page of Picard's logbook in "The Battle" consists of plain text that is partially reversed. As the mirrored text would have been recognizable, the last page was completely redone and now depicts a diagram too.
Clare Raymond's family tree in "The Neutral Zone" contains numerous in-jokes. It includes the names of TNG actors, as well as references to other TV series, such as "Kermit T. Frog" and "Miss Piggy".
Visual Crossovers with Other Series/Movies
The screen displays were completely revised for the HD edition. The in-jokes were altered to be less obvious. Names of the crew working on the HD edition were newly added. Also, the family tree now includes the place of birth and the dates of birth and of death for each member. Finally, the spelling of Clare Raymond was changed from "Claire" to "Clare" on the first display, and the date of her death was fixed (2035 as originally displayed does not fit with spoken dialogue).
Owing to the limited amount of stock footage some shots of the Enterprise were reversed to create more diversity. The hull labels, however, appear reversed too. In the first season some shots, like one in TNG-R: "Lonely Among Us", were fixed.

A reversed label was also corrected for TNG-R: "11001001".

Reversed labels in some other episodes remain uncorrected.

The shots of the Starfleet Command grounds in "Conspiracy" were originally created for "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home". The Federation emblem is as it was devised by Franz Joseph for the Star Trek Technical Manual, that is, with the two faces instead of the olive branches.
The Evolution of the Federation Emblem
In TNG-R: "Conspiracy", the anachronistic emblem on the building was replaced with the 24th century Starfleet emblem.
In "Encounter at Farpoint", the energy beam to free the Farpoint lifeform emerges from a spot on the ventral side right in front of the captain's yacht. It is doubtful that there is an emitter in this place. When the scene was recreated for TNG-R: "Encounter at Farpoint", the origin of the beam was moved to the phaser strip.
Similarly, in TNG: "The Battle" the tractor beam originates in the torpedo bay. In TNG-R: "The Battle", the origin of the tractor beam was moved down to the bottom of the secondary hull where it belongs.
A flower pot is visible in this shot in TNG: "The Arsenal of Freedom". The flower pot is gone in TNG-R: "The Arsenal of Freedom". It was digitally covered by a piece of rock like the one to the left of the pot.
Equipment such as tripods or microphone beams is visible in some episodes. A tripod in TNG-R: "Justice" was digitally erased.
Likewise, a tripod was removed in TNG-R: "When the Bough Breaks".

A piece of equipment was digitally removed in TNG-R: "Heart of Glory" too.

Not all instances of visible equipment in the first season were removed though.

In a few shots the studio ceiling is visible. The set border is no longer visible in TNG-R: "Hide and Q". It wasn't retouched, but the scan area was simply smaller and the uppermost portion was cut off.

There is no visible studio ceiling in TNG-R: "The Arsenal of Freedom", also because of the smaller scan area in that direction.

In some other episodes of the first season there are still visible set borders left.

As Beata reaches out her hand, almost off the screen, we vaguely see how someone is taking over the glass in TNG: "Angel One". The "helping hand" is not visible in TNG-R: "Angel One" due to the reframing.

In order to extend the set in "Hide and Q", two different elements of filmed footage were combined here. The actors were filmed separately from the rocks in the foreground.

Mike Okuda: "Those shots were, indeed set extensions. For the original versions, Rob Legato and Gary Hutzel, took images of the rocks on Stage 16 and used video compositing to create more planetscape. They also stretched the sky in at least one shot."

In TNG-R: "Hide and Q", the rocks in the foreground have been replaced by CG rocks.

Mike Okuda: "For the remastered version, CBS-D used simple matte paintings to re-create the extensions."

Several planets were quite blurry in the original TV release. Ligon II was completely redone for TNG-R: "Code of Honor". Gone is the blurriness, we can make out small islands.
The planet Delphi Ardu IV was redone with much sharper contours of the continents for TNG-R: "The Last Outpost".
The Edo planet was completely redone for TNG-R: "Justice". Note that the new continents are very similar to the original but not quite the same.

Angel 1 was reconstructed for TNG-R: "Angel One" by Max Gabl, who faithfully followed the lines of the original.

Among the planets of the first season apparently only Deneb IV in "Encounter at Farpoint" as well as Haven in "Haven" and its reuse as Bynaus in "11001001" are still represented by the old models.

 

Season 2

Description TNG Comparison TNG to TNG-R Description TNG-R
The visual effects of TNG were top-notch in the 1980s but usually rather blurry. All visual effects had to be reconstructed in HD for TNG-R. The sequence of cutting the skull monster in half was considerably improved for TNG-R: "The Emissary".
The original version of TNG: "The Royale" showed a curious US flag with 52 stars and the field of stars resting on a red stripe. The mission patch below the flag is a re-use of the Apollo 17 patch, with only the word "Apollo" removed. The patch still bears the number "XVII" and the name of the actual astronauts, Cernan, Evans and Schmitt. The flag is still the same. The patch, however, was corrected for TNG-R: "The Royale". The number "XVII" was replaced with "Charybdis - NASA", and the names of the Apollo 17 astronauts with "First Beyond the Solar System".
The list of comedians in TNG: "The Outrageous Okona" and the list of Earth deep space launches from 2123 to 2190 in TNG: "Up the Long Ladder" contain several in-jokes, such as names of people involved in the production of Star Trek. Some names were changed for TNG-R: "The Outrageous Okona", replacing them with names of people that were involved in the remastering of TNG.
In TNG-R: "Up the Long Ladder" the VK Velikan is no longer commanded by Gene Roddenberry but by Mike Volland. It is also no longer on a mission "to explore strange new worlds"but is engaging in "stellar chart mapping". The HMS New Zealand is now on a diplomatic mission to Aldebaran instead of Alderaan. The SS Seattle is on a diplomatic mission to SR-47 now and no longer does "ADR looping".
In TNG: "The Schizoid Man" data seen on the viewscreen contains references to different fields of science. nDNA is short for nuclear DNA. HCOOH is formic acid. A stands for adenine, T for thymine, C for cytosine, G for guanine and U for uracil, all five are nucleobases. Uracil and thymine normally never appear together, as thymine (only in DNA) is replaced by uracil in RNA. The text on the display was newly created for TNG-R: "The Schizoid Man". There are several differences between the TNG-R text displays and the original, such as "O" (instead of C) in a DNA sequence and nonsensical words like "angie" (instead of "angle").
In TNG: "The Measure of a Man" Picard views the Starfleet transfer orders on the desktop monitor in his ready room. The graphic was added in post production. The graphic was created from scratch for TNG-R: "The Measure of a Man". The font of "40271" is a different one. The text still isn't legible.
In the original version of TNG: "Time Squared" the beginning of the shuttlepod video was re-used from the USS Yamato logs seen in "Contagion". If one watches closely, the words "Access File = Captain's Log * USS Yamato * NCC 71807" can be made out. The logs are correctly labeled with "USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D" in TNG-R: "Time Squared".
Riker views photos from his family album in TNG: "The Icarus Factor". The skyline on the first photo was updated with buildings such as the Burj al Arab in TNG-R: "The Icarus Factor".
In TNG: "Q Who" we can see stock footage of Shuttle 01 - Sakharov from "Unnatural Selection", while the dialogue mentions "Shuttle 6".
Variations of the Type-7 Shuttle
The registry of the shuttle was accordingly fixed for TNG-R: "Q Who".
Although Wesley identifies the shuttle as "Shuttle 2" in TNG: "Samaritan Snare", it can be clearly seen in this reused shot from "Unnatural Selection" that he and the captain are departing in Shuttle 01, the Sakharov. The shuttle mock-up was relabeled for TNG-R: "Samaritan Snare". It is now the Einstein - Shuttle 02 (taken from a chart visible in the shuttlebay since "Evolution"). In other shots in the episode the shuttle is still mislabeled though.
If one compares this shot of the Borg cube in pursuit of the USS Enterprise-D with an earlier shot of the ship in TNG: "Q Who", one can see that the footage is upside down here. The Borg cube is no longer upside down in TNG-R: "Q Who".
All scenes with starships were originally created with motion control photography. Generally season 2 uses recomposited original shots of the studio miniatures. One exception is the Erstwhile, which was replaced with a CG model for one shot in TNG-R: "The Outrageous Okona".
A new CG model of the Klingon BoP appears in two shots of TNG-R: "A Matter of Honor".
This shot from TNG-R: "Peak Performance", unlike the previous ones from the same episode, shows a CG model of the Hathaway. There are several slight differences to the physical model.
Filming equipment is visible in a couple of season 2 episodes, as well as some other things that should normally not come into sight. In TNG-R: "The Child", the sandbag behind Wesley is no longer visible thanks to the reframing.
The equipment is not visible any longer in TNG-R: "The Schizoid Man" because the shot was slightly reframed.
A carpet patch was digitally retouched at the beginning of this scene in TNG: "Time Squared" (but reappears in a later shot).
Several matte paintings can be seen in the original episodes of the second season, sometimes to supplement real shots with actors. A new digital matte was created for TNG-R: "Loud as a Whisper".
The beautiful scenery on the holodeck was digitally recreated from scratch for TNG-R: "The Dauphin".
The surface of Iconia in TNG-R: "Contagion" is an entirely new CG creation that closely follows the lines of the original.
The original matte painting was replaced with digital set extensions for TNG-R: "Q Who".
For TNG-R: "Samaritan Snare" the matte painting of Starbase 515 was modified to look less like Angel One. Three rounded roof tops were added, and most notably a helix-shaped tower. The tree in the foreground was changed as well. In addition, a flock of birds was added, the tiny human figures which were part of the original matte painting are moving now and the shuttle can be seen landing on a platform.
Like already in season 1, many planets were rather blurry in the original episodes of season 2. A much more detailed planet Solais V was created for TNG-R: "Loud as a Whisper".
The planet Theta 116 VIII was recreated for TNG-R: "The Royale", including some turbulent storms.
The Starbase Montgomery planet was newly created for TNG-R: "The Icarus Factor". Yet, it looks rather blurry in some of the shots.

The new Pacifica created for TNG-R: "Manhunt" is even more blurred than in the original episode.

Overall, more planets remained the same in season 2 of TNG-R than in season 1.

 

Season 3

Description TNG Comparison TNG to TNG-R Description TNG-R
In the original version of TNG: "Evolution" the smoke, which was added in post production, fills the whole bridge. In TNG-R: "Evolution" the smoke looks much more convincing. There is less smoke close to the camera than in the far background, for example. The removal of the smoke by the bridge life support system looks more realistic as well.
Several graphics on displays were inserted into the original episodes in post production and often did not consist of useful text. The new graphics of the Koinonian lifeform in TNG-R: "The Bonding" contain some in-jokes. The original, illegible text in the third to last line now reads "Greenberg return 374", probably a reference to Don Greenberg, visual effects editor compositor on TNG. "Axial Flux Location" in the second to last line was replaced by "Tezber Factor Locator". The "[illegible] Operator" in the last line, finally, was replaced by "Sarpaul Operator", a reference to Sarah Paul, a visual effects coordinator, who is involved in the remastering of TNG.
For TNG-R: "The Vengeance Factor" the original text about the microvirus was replaced by strings of nucleotides, more fitting for a medical analysis of the virus.
Danar's file no longer consists just of strings of numbers but of useful text in TNG-R: "The Hunted". It contains numerous references to people working on the remastering of TNG, like "Wenruiz Indoctrination Center" (Wendy Ruiz), "Primehadar Cragweis" (Craig Weiss), "Kevscotti Military Base" (Keven Scotti) and "Sarpaul Transport Complex" (Sarah Paul).
The new text about the field generator in TNG-R: "A Matter of Perspective" includes many references to people working on the remastering of TNG, like "Isolinear Kreitzman junction" (Nicki Kreitzmann) and "Bruno coils" (Eric Bruno).
In TNG-R: "The Offspring" the heading "The Ethics - Spinoza (1632-1677)" appears on the screen together with the text from the Treaty of Armens.
The Enterprise and the Promellian battlecruiser in TNG: "Booby Trap". Several more rocks were added to the asteroid field for TNG-R: "Booby Trap". Also, the lighting of the Enterprise was changed to match better with the one of the Promellian ship.
An unfinished USS Enterprise-D can be seen through the drafting room 5 windows in TNG: "Booby Trap". The matte painting of the structural grid of the Enterprise-D saucer looks different in TNG-R: "Booby Trap". Although the basic layout of the skeleton is closely based on the original, the new version has hints of detail and structure inside the grid.
The Enterprise was flipped for this shot in TNG: "A Matter of Perspective", as the hull markings are backwards. The orientation of the registry was fixed for TNG-R: "A Matter of Perspective".
The Enterprise in the asteroid field in TNG: "Booby Trap". A CGI model stands in for the 6-foot model in this one shot in TNG-R: "Booby Trap".
The original episode TNG: "Sins of the Father" re-uses a shot of the USS Enterprise-D and the Klingon Bird-of-Prey from "A Matter of Honor". Unlike it was in the remastered version of "A Matter of Honor", the scene was newly composed of CG models of the Enterprise and the Klingon BoP for TNG-R: "Sins of the Father".
The framing of this shot is slightly off in this shot from TNG: "The Survivors". There is no problem with the framing in TNG-R: "The Survivors".
A look through the duck blind window in TNG: "Who Watches the Watchers". A speck of blue (maybe the sky or a blue screen) can be seen in the top left corner. Also, the view is not consistent with a later one in the same episode. The speck of blue is not visible in TNG-R: "Who Watches the Watchers", and the rocks were replaced with the same ones that appear later in the episode.
The reflection of the viewscreen with Admiral Hansen is missing on the observation lounge table in this shot in TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds I". The missing reflection was inserted into TNG-R: "The Best of Both Worlds I".
As opposed to other shots from the same episode, the Paulson Nebula appears to be plain blue in a few shots in TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds I". In TNG-R: "The Best of Both Worlds I" the color of the nebula was fixed in for the shots in which it previously appeared too blue.
Several matte paintings appear in the original episodes of the third season, sometimes as stand-alone backdrops and sometimes to supplement real shots with actors. The basic matte of Delta Rana IV is still the same, but several details were reworked for TNG-R: "The Survivors".
The cratered surface of the Koinonian homeworld (actually an image of Valles Marineris on Mars) was obviously reworked for TNG-R: "The Bonding". It is less cloudy now, and looks even more like the surface of Mars than before.
The rocks on Risa were retouched for TNG-R: "Captain's Holiday" to have more depth, although they arguably don't really look more realistic this way.
Most of the planets in the original season 3 episodes re-used stock footage and were not really fit for HD. Tau Cygna V is represented by a new yet similar planet in TNG-R: "The Ensigns of Command".
A new planet model, which is very close to the original, was also created for Qo'noS in TNG-R: "Sins of the Father".
The new planet model in TNG-R: "Captain's Holiday" includes the continent Australia! The Gulf of Carpentaria can be found just above the saucer, and the Spencer Gulf (near Adelaide) on the opposite side. After TNG-R: "Shades of Gray"this is the second time we can see an Earth-based planet in TNG-R. It is not sure whether the two planets are the same CGI model.
The new planet Vulcan built for TNG-R: "Sarek" retains the rather brownish color of the original planet model of TNG, while it includes oceans like those in Star Trek Enterprise.

A new planet was created for Jouret IV in TNG-R: "The Best of Both Worlds I". It is not identical to the other remastered versions of this blue planet.

Almost all planets that appear in TNG-R season 3 are new or digitally retouched.

 

Season 4

Description TNG Comparison TNG to TNG-R Description TNG-R
The bridge at blue alert in TNG: "Brothers". The blue color was created in post production, the shot was originally made with red lighting.

The shot from TNG-R: "Brothers", in contrast, shows the original red color, which is wrong, considering that the ship is at blue alert. The oversight is odd because the LCARS display was correctly swapped to match with the preceding close shot of Data at the console, while the much more noticeable red lighting remains unchanged.

The error was fixed for the Netflix HD release, where the lights are blue.

Many displays of the fourth season show early computer animations that are accordingly pixelated. The animations were created from scratch for TNG-R: "Remember Me". The Enterprise side view was replaced with a more detailed and more accurate image. The cross-section is more detailed too, but comprises too many decks. Ten Forward would be on deck 12 or 13 according to the new deck plan.
The animated graphic and its labeling was changed for TNG-R: "Legacy". It doesn't match any longer with the unchanged static graphic that can be seen in another shot of the same scene.
The graphics were newly created for the TNG-R: "Data's Day". Note that the envelope of the original DNA segments is elliptical, while it is sinusoidal in TNG-R.
The pixely original graphics were replaced with HD animations for TNG-R: "The Wounded". The original string of numbers when the weapon impact is being displayed was replaced with a new display, starting with "Sustained direct weapons hit..." and showing useful data.
The whole text on this display was reconstructed for TNG-R: "Galaxy's Child" and is completely legible. Most notably the last screen now shows everything in the small standard font instead of the obtrusive large letters in the original episode. A label in the LCARS bar above the text field was not included in the HD version.
The list of substances was redone for TNG-R: "Night Terrors", and the original text was supplemented with new sentences in many cases. Some screens repeated in the original episode after the first cut to Deanna and Data. For TNG-R, new screens with new substances were created from scratch.
The explosion of the Borg cube in TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds II". The explosion of the Borg cube was completely redone for TNG-R: "The Best of Both Worlds II".
A look at Earth and Moon in TNG-R: "The Best of Both Worlds II". If one compares this shot to the earlier shot of Earth and the Moon in the episode, it can be seen that the Moon has been rotated 180 degrees. In TNG-R: "The Best of Both Worlds II", the Moon was not rotated but flipped horizontally.
A flyby of the Enterprise-D in TNG: "The Host". The same basic shot of the 4-foot model appears in many episodes of the fourth season. The original footage of this flyby could not be located. It was replaced by a similar shot of the physical model, or by a CG model. We can see the latter in TNG-R: "The Host".
Captain Maxwell looks at the Enterprise from his window on the Phoenix in TNG: "The Wounded". It is the 4-foot model of the ship.
The Saucer Rim on the Galaxy Class
It seems this footage could not be found for TNG-R: "The Wounded" (although it appears in HD in "Suddenly Human"), and a similar, also flipped shot of the 6-foot model from "The Most Toys" was used instead.
The early CGI showing the birth of "Junior" in TNG: "Galaxy' Child". The use of a new CG model is most obvious in the birth scene in TNG-R: "Galaxy's Child". While the old model was rather blunt, the new one has some sort of "plastic" gloss.
The surface shot of Krios in TNG: "The Mind's Eye" is the heavily modified/Klingonized matte painting originally created for "Angel One".
Re-Uses of the Angel One Matte Painting
Several elements of the matte painting were modified for TNG-R: "The Mind's Eye". Most notably one building in the background was replaced with a pyramidal one that looks more like the buildings on the Qo'noS matte painting. Also, the hills in the background were reworked to appear sharper.
René Picard sitting under a tree, gazing at the stars in TNG: "Family". The constellation of Orion can be clearly seen in the night sky. For TNG-R: "Family", the matte painting was slightly modified and now includes a spire to the left of René's knee. It corresponds with the mast visible in the daytime matte.
The Ngame nebula in TNG: "Clues". The Ngame nebula was digitally edited for TNG-R: "Clues" to look more diffuse.
Like in the previous seasons, many planets of season 4 were not fit for HD, or a new CG planet was deemed useful for the sake of diversity. Terlina III is a new planet in TNG-R: "Brothers", and not the same as Qo'noS any longer.
A new CG planet was created for TNG-R: "Future Imperfect".
A new planet was created for TNG-R: "Devil's Due". Note the slightly purplish hue.
A spectacular new CG was built for Peliar Zel II in TNG-R: "The Host".

 

Season 5

Description TNG Comparison TNG to TNG-R Description TNG-R
In TNG: "Violations", Troi and the Ullian Jev are seen taking a turbolift on deck 3. Troi wants to get off on deck 8, Jev on deck 16. When the turbolift stops and Troi disembarks, however, the door label still reads "03". This error was fixed for TNG-R: "Violations". When Deanna has left the turbolift, the sign now correctly indicates deck 8.
In this shot from TNG: "The Masterpiece Society", numerous pieces of filming equipment are seen. A microphone boom can be seen above Picard and metallic stands of other pieces of filming equipment can be seen on the left and right frames of the shot. The microphone and the tripod stands to the left and right of the forward bridge stations were digitally removed in post production for TNG-R: "The Masterpiece Society".
In TNG: "Power Play", the three Starfleet officers possessed by aliens discard their communicators in a turbolift with red carpet. As we see a close-up of the communicators on the floor, the carpet is suddenly brown. The error was corrected for TNG-R: "Power Play". The carpet is consistently red now.
In TNG: "The First Duty", the Starfleet motto is wrong Latin: "Ex Astra, Scientia" instead of "Ex Astris, Scientia". The grammatical error was fixed for the remastered version TNG-R: "The First Duty" and the logo now reads "Ex Astris, Scientia".
When Data checks various files to find out how to detect cloaked Romulan ships in TNG: "Redemption II", many pages of text quickly flash by. The text is mostly illegible. The text was recreated for TNG-R: "Redemption II". Many people involved in the creation of TNG and TNG-R are mentioned in the newly created text. There are also some new in-jokes, such as references to The Big Bang Theory.
The ships taking part in the tachyon detection grid fly into formation, as can be seen on this screen in TNG: "Redemption II". The tactical displays were modified for TNG-R: "Redemption II". The spelling of "Tian Nan Men" was corrected to "Tian An Men", and "Merrimac" to "Merrimack". Furthermore the Charleston and the Sutherland have switched places on this display. The latter can now be found on the lower right. This was probably done because some time later we see the display again, with the Sutherland leaving the grid starting from this position.
TNG: "Hero Worship" shows animated graphics of the SS Vico, added in post production. These graphics were recreated for TNG-R: "Hero Worship". The outlines of the pod are no longer pixelated but smooth now. The dash between "NAR" and "18834" is missing.
In TNG: "Conundrum", Ro Laren's birthplace is listed as "Bajora" (an early version of the name that was abandoned in favor of "Bajor"). Curiously, according to the original file, Ro spent as many as 6 years at Starfleet Academy, from 2358-2364. Her place of birth is now correctly given as "Bajor" in TNG-R: "Conundrum". The years on the Academy were fixed to 2358-2362. These modifications are consistent with the version of Ro's personnel file from "The Next Phase" later this season. Another new note about Ro Laren reads as follows: "Court-martialed for role in Garon II disaster while assigned to the U.S.S. Wellington".
Doctor Crusher looks at Geordi La Forge's medical file in TNG: "Cause and Effect". The screens were newly created for TNG-R: "Cause and Effect". The birthplace "Mogadishu, Somalia" was added.
The Ktarian game in TNG: "The Game". The look of the game was reconstructed to look close to the original for TNG-R: "The Game".
An animation of the spectacular Koolvord Starburst is displayed on the desktop monitor in Picard's ready room in TNG: "The First Duty". The graphics were newly created for TNG-R: "The First Duty" and exhibit more detail.
The USS Enterprise-D fires at the Tamarian vessel in TNG: "Darmok". The phaser beam famously emanates from the torpedo launcher. As the original shot didn't allow proper placement of a phaser beam being emitted from a phaser strip, this shot was replaced in TNG-R: Darmok", with a shot showing a phaser beam being fired from a dorsal saucer phaser strip, filmed for "The Best of Both Worlds I". This is the arguably biggest visual change in TNG-R so far.
The two Galor-class ships seen on the main viewscreen in TNG: "Ensign Ro". Like in "The Wounded", the deflector of the Cardassian ships is yellow in this episode, while in later episodes the deflector is usually red. The Cardassian ships in TNG-R: "Ensign Ro". The deflector dishes are now red, which complies with the color seen in later episodes.
The Crystalline Entity blocking out the sun of Melona IV in TNG: "Silicon Avatar". A new model of the lifeform, different from the one seen in "Datalore", was created for the original episode. The model was recreated for TNG-R: "Silicon Avatar".
The Type-15 shuttlepod Campbell flies through the turbulent atmosphere of the moon in TNG: "Power Play". The clouds were created completely anew for TNG-R: "Power Play" and look much more convincing now.
Picard overlooking the village Ressik on Kataan in TNG: "The Inner Light". Footage of Patrick Stewart was filmed at Bronson Canyon, the village was added in post production. VOY: "The 37's" was also filmed at Bronson Canyon and features a very similar shot. The matte painting was edited for TNG-R: "The Inner Light". The town now appears to consist of fewer buildings.
Almost all planets of season 5 were not deemed fit for HD and were replaced with CG models. In TNG-R: "Redemption II", the planet on which Starbase 234 is located was replaced with a CG model.
The planet Galorndon Core in TNG-R: "Unification" was corrected to look like it did in "The Enemy".
Planet Mutations
For TNG-R: "Ethics", the shot with the Enterprise and the planet in the Mericor system was created completely anew, using a new planet and the previously mentioned CG model of the ship.
The planet Tessen III in TNG-R: "Cost of Living" is a new one that closely resembles the original.

 

Season 6

Description TNG Comparison TNG to TNG-R Description TNG-R
Filming equipment is visible at the top of the frame in the transporter room in TNG: "Man of the People". No equipment appears in TNG-R: "Man of the People". It was removed digitally.
Cargo bay 4 is highlighted on the MSD in TNG: "Schisms". The flashing red light was added in post production. In TNG-R: "Schisms", the location of cargo bay 4 has been changed. In the original display, the saucer impulse engines had been incorrectly identified as cargo bay 4. Now cargo bay 4 is located one deck below shuttlebay 1.
The holodeck grid seems strangely malformed towards the right side of the screen in TNG: "Ship in a Bottle". A yellow stripe is also missing in the bottom right-hand corner. In TNG-R: "Ship in a Bottle", the grid looks impeccable.
In TNG: "Birthright I", makeup artist June Abston Haymore can famously be seen sitting on the ground in front of an orange door in Data's dream sequence. While she is still briefly visible in TNG-R: "Birthright I" at the beginning of the sequence, she was digitally removed from the more obvious shot a few frames later.
In TNG: "The Chase", the PADD displays a list of the 17 people aboard the USS Enterprise-D that come from non-Federation planets and their homeworlds. In SD, the names and the planets cannot be made out. For TNG-R: "The Chase", the names and the planets were changed and are barely legible now. All of the planets come from earlier Star Trek episodes and films (mostly The Original Series), while the crew members are all people working on the production of the various Star Trek films and series.
A large number of animated displays appears in the original episodes. In TNG-R: "Schisms", the text on the conn station is perfectly legible for the first time. Well, and we can now see the screws that were apparently masked for the SD version.
The animation of the interior of the Dyson sphere was created anew for TNG-R: "Relics".
The proportions of the reconstructed Enterprise-D animation in TNG-R: "Rascals" are much better.
The result of the genetic analysis was reconstructed with a better detailing of the base pairs for TNG-R: "Rightful Heir".
The USS Yosemite inside the plasma stream in TNG: "Realm of Fear". The effect was redone for TNG-R: "Realm of Fear" to appear less cloudy and more like a stream.
Riker is abducted into subspace in TNG: "Schisms". The effect was redone for TNG-R: "Schisms" and looks more convincing now.
The molecular reversion field in TNG: "Rascals". The reconstructed effect in TNG-R: "Rascals" looks somewhat different.
The arc that hits Data in TNG: "Birthright I". The arc was recreated for TNG-R: "Birthright I". It looks better defined and brighter now.
The Tilonian illusion in TNG: "Frame of Mind" breaks apart, starting with the background and continuing with the false Enterprise-D crew members. The reconstructed "shards" in TNG-R: "Frame of Mind" are distributed somewhat differently.
Beverly's shuttle with the metaphasic shield leaves the corona of the star in TNG: "Suspicions". In the remastered episode TNG-R: "Suspicions", the new light effect is more yellowish, especially on the hull of the shuttle.
The prison on Carraya IV in TNG: "Birthright II". New trees with more leaves were inserted into the foreground for TNG-R: "Birthright II". It seems like the mountain top and the clouds were retouched too. In addition, the foreground is now a level of its own, moving independently when the camera zooms in (hence giving the shot more depth).
The surface shot of Arkaria in TNG: "Starship Mine" is a re-use of the surface of Gagarin IV in "Unnatural Selection".
Re-Used Planet Sets
The yellow hue was removed for TNG-R: "Starship Mine", unlike in the remastered version of "Unnatural Selection".
The fire storm on Bersallis III in TNG: "Lessons". The light effects were redone for TNG-R: "Lessons" and are more vibrant (and more menacing) now.
The monastery on Boreth in TNG: "Rightful Heir". In TNG-R: "Rightful Heir" we can still see essentially the same matte painting, but with additional lights, refined rock structures and a new sky.
Almost all planets of season 6 were not deemed fit for the HD version. A new planet Rekag-Seronia was created for TNG-R: "Man of the People".
The planet Tagra IV and the cleaning sequence were newly created for TNG-R: "True Q".
In TNG-R: "A Fistful of Datas", the planet is a red gas giant, as requested by the script.
The Research Station 75 planet was newly created for TNG-R: "Face of the Enemy".

 

Season 7

Description TNG Comparison TNG to TNG-R Description TNG-R
Computer displays in TNG usually have all-black backgrounds. The large white field on this screen in TNG: "Descent II" is probably a glitch in the animation. The screen was reconstructed for the TNG-R episode. The white field is black now and the text is much better legible.
Picard is looking at a monitor on Baran's ship in TNG: "Gambit II". This screen was recreated from scratch for the remastered episode. It contains legible text in the lower left field now. The alien letters are similar but not quite the same.
A display of the Hekaras Corridor in TNG: "Force of Nature". This display was reconstructed with a bit more detail for TNG-R.
Nothing on the fast scrolling passenger manifest in TNG: "Inheritance" is recognizable until it stops at Juliana O'Donnell's name. The complete list was created from scratch for the remastered episode. It now contains many names of the TNG-R production crew.
A display in TNG: "Parallels" shows four different locations. The display was recomposed for TNG-R. The two images on the right were newly created to match the original ones.
Lt. Kwan's personnel file on a screen in TNG: "Eye of the Beholder". The display was reconstructed for the remastered episode. A few corrections were made, mostly to stardates that were off.
Riker fires his phaser in TNG: "Descent II". The effect was slightly revised, adding a bluish "anamorphotic" lens flare, although this was shot with a normal spherical lens.
A discharge in TNG: "Liaisons". The lightning is better defined and brighter in the TNG-R episode.
Geordi encounters a fire when he investigates the USS Raman using the interface probe in TNG: "Interface". The fire was recomposed for TNG-R. Not only are the flames brighter, the environment is also much better recognizable.
The weapons of Baran's people in TNG: "Gambit I" fire quite intense blue rays that overexpose parts of the frame. In TNG-R, the newly inserted beams are greenish blue and not quite as bright.
The effect of the ancient Vulcan weapon in TNG: "Gambit II". In TNG-R, the wrinkle effect is more pronounced but also looks unnatural, like a 3D effect applied to an even surface.
The rift to the other universes in TNG: "Parallels". The effect is more colorful in the remastered episode, and the trails of the Enterprises are more defined.
The asteroid field in TNG: "The Pegasus". The big asteroid is still the same as in the original episode, whereas the smaller rocks were rearranged.
In this shot, the rocks are mostly the same as in the original, but different footage was used for the Warbird.
TNG: "Masks" notably includes the CG scenes of the D'Arsay archive.
CGI in Star Trek
All scenes with the archive were recreated from scratch for the remastered episode.
The matte painting of Ronara in TNG: "Preemptive Strike" shows the Maquis colony at daytime and at dusk or dawn. In TNG-R, it is a completely new (digital) matte painting. The buildings as well as the surroundings were recreated from scratch. We can only speculate that the original shots were not deemed good enough for HD.
The matte painting of Cambridge in TNG: "All Good Things" looks a bit pale by today's standards. The painting was carefully retouched with a more natural (and more pleasant) looking sky and with reflections of the clouds in windows, among other things.
Once again, several planets from the original episodes were not deemed fit for HD. The unnamed planet in TNG-R: "Liaisons" has a different, finer cloud pattern now.
In TNG-R: "Gambit II", Vulcan is not a dirty brown ball any longer but has recognizable continents, similar as in TNG-R: "Sarek".
A more detailed planet for Kesprytt replaces the frequently re-used generic Class-M planet model in TNG-R: "Attached" (and also in TNG-R: "Journey's End").
The new planet Atrea IV in TNG-R: "Inheritance" keeps the continents largely the same but is more detailed and with more welcoming colors.

 


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