SBT used AI-based image processing on returning episodes of Chaves and Chapolin, prompting complaints about blurred or distorted faces, unstable textures and altered framing in some scenes. The dispute was not proof that AI cannot help restore old television: it exposed a harder question—whether SBT’s processing improved the picture without changing the programs’ visual character.
What happened to Chaves and Chapolin?
After Chaves and Chapolin returned to SBT’s broadcast and streaming operation, viewers noticed image processing they associated with AI. Criticism became prominent in early January 2025. The fan community Fórum Chaves circulated comparisons of particular scenes, and Folha de S.Paulo reported complaints about visible anomalies. The examples described in coverage included softened or oddly reshaped faces, textures that looked artificial or inconsistent, and changes to color, contrast or framing. Folha’s January 2, 2025 report covered the criticism and fan comparisons.
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Those examples establish that viewers objected to what appeared on screen; they do not establish that every reported anomaly was created by AI, that every episode looked the same, or which processing step caused a particular defect. An odd feature can come from the original recording, an earlier transfer, compression, enhancement or a combination of them.
What SBT said the processing was meant to do
SBT’s stated aim, as reported by Canaltech, was to improve the viewing image and correct problems associated with aging analog videotape, including noise, phase rotation and signal instability. The broadcaster said it did not intend to change the episodes’ original characteristics. Later, SBT technology executive Alfonso Aurin told Folha that the broadcaster accepted criticism from dedicated fans. Folha’s July 2025 coverage placed the case in a wider discussion of AI in television post-production.
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That is the distinction at the heart of the controversy: SBT described an intended technical cleanup, while viewers judged the visible results in some scenes to be distracting or less faithful. The stated intention does not by itself demonstrate that the output preserved the original image, and the complaints do not reveal exactly how it was processed.
“AI remastering” can mean several different things
Coverage often uses “AI restoration” or “AI remastering” broadly. These terms can describe different operations, and the available reporting does not show which combination SBT used. In particular, it does not establish that the broadcaster used generative reconstruction, frame interpolation or any named software or model.
- Cleanup: Reducing tape noise, dropouts, color errors or other signal defects. Cleanup can also erase real texture if applied too aggressively.
- Denoising and sharpening: Suppressing visual noise and emphasizing edges. Heavy denoising can make skin look plastic; sharpening can create halos or false crispness.
- Upscaling: Enlarging an image for a higher-resolution screen. It can make the picture bigger, but enlargement alone cannot recover detail that was never recorded or has been lost.
- Generative reconstruction: Estimating or synthesizing plausible texture where the source is unclear. The result may look more detailed while being less certain as a record of what was actually there.
- Frame interpolation: Creating intermediate frames to make motion appear smoother. The reports do not establish that SBT used it.
- Aspect-ratio conversion: Adapting older 4:3 footage to a wider display by cropping, stretching or filling the sides. This is a separate presentation choice, not an AI technique, even though both can affect the same broadcast.
Calling an image “remastered” does not tell viewers which of these changes were made, whether the original composition was retained, or whether the result was checked against a source master.
Why old videotape is difficult to improve
Analog television recordings can carry noise, unstable color, tracking or phase problems and soft, smeared detail. Copies made across generations may have lost information before any new restoration begins. Quality can also vary between episodes and even between scenes.
Processing can reduce visible defects, but it cannot reliably recover detail that is absent from the available source. When an image is ambiguous, an enhancement system may smooth it, sharpen its edges or infer plausible-looking features. If that estimate changes from one frame to the next, faces, hair, clothing or background surfaces can appear to crawl, warp or flicker. A cleaner-looking frame is not automatically a more accurate one.
How to judge the reported artifacts
Fan comparisons can be valuable evidence of what viewers saw, but they are not necessarily controlled technical tests. Two images may differ in brightness, compression, display settings, frame selection or the generation of the source copy. Nor does one striking example establish that the whole catalog received identical treatment.
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When assessing a restoration, the most useful questions are whether faces, costumes, props and set details keep their shape; whether texture and color remain stable across consecutive frames; and whether the original 4:3 composition has been preserved rather than cropped or stretched. A few common warning signs are:
- Texture crawling or flicker: Skin, walls, hair or clothing seem to change independently from frame to frame.
- Warping or invented contours: Facial features, fingers, signs or props appear reshaped or bent.
- Plastic surfaces or oversmoothing: Denoising removes fine texture along with noise.
- Halos and false sharpness: Strong edges look crisp, but the image contains no trustworthy additional detail.
- Color drift or altered framing: Tones shift between frames, or the image is stretched or cropped to fit a wider screen.
These symptoms can point to processing problems, but they do not identify the cause on their own. A defect may originate in the tape or an earlier transfer, rather than in the latest enhancement.
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Many Brazilian viewers know Chaves well enough to notice small changes in familiar scenes, and fans can compare broadcasts with home recordings, discs or other versions. For some, the original’s soft, imperfect look is part of its identity. A sharper image may still feel worse if it changes an expression, a prop or the atmosphere of a scene. That preference is not universal, but it explains why technical polish alone is not the only measure of success.
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The disagreement is not simply between people who accept technology and people who reject it. It concerns the restoration’s priorities: legibility on contemporary screens, fidelity to the source, and preservation of the visual qualities audiences recognize. A defensible process needs to balance those goals rather than assume that fewer visible imperfections always mean a better archive.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What remains publicly unknown
The cited reporting does not identify SBT’s software or AI model, the source format or resolution, the output specifications, or whether the process generated new detail. It also does not document whether the two programs used the same workflow, how consistently episodes were reviewed, whether a particular 4:3 master was retained, or whether viewers can access an unprocessed alternative. Without those details, it is not possible to independently assess the full pipeline or explain every artifact from a screenshot.
For archival programs, transparency would help viewers understand what “restored” means in practice: which changes were made, whether the original master remains preserved, and what checks were used to catch frame-to-frame distortions. An original version alongside an enhanced one would also make the trade-off visible without forcing every viewer to prefer the same presentation.
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The issue also involved Chapolin
Reporting on the return covered both Chaves and Chapolin, not just one program. Canaltech’s later coverage described further criticism of the AI-optimized images. The existence of complaints about both series does not prove that every episode was processed identically or that each reported defect had the same cause.
The case became part of a wider conversation about broadcasters using AI in post-production, but examples elsewhere in television are context, not evidence that SBT used the same tools or methods. Folha returned to the subject in July 2025 as part of that broader discussion.
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