The Korean tech giant Samsung has quietly rolled out a new AI-powered feature on Samsung TV Plus, focusing solely on one thing: old K-dramas.
It has launched a dedicated channel that streams classic Korean dramas from the 2000s, but there’s a twist: they’re being upscaled to 4K using Samsung’s AI video processing technology.
Instead of remastering each show (which would take an immense amount of time and resources), Samsung is applying its on-device AI upscaling technology across the entire channel, cleaning up old Korean dramas in real time.
Making old shows watchable on big 4K screens
So, expect to see sharper edges, improved textures, and reduced noise. It is the same AI wizardry the company uses on its premium smart TVs, now implemented at the streaming level in TV Plus.
Classic Korean dramas are immensely popular, but not all of them age well (in terms of video quality), especially when viewing them on modern 55-inch or 65-inch 4K screens that don’t offer real-time upscaling.
By using AI to upscale an entire channel, Samsung is solving a growing problem for streaming platforms: how to make relatively older content watchable on modern displays.
If you’ve ever tried rewatching your favorite Korean drama only to be distracted by blurry faces or grainy textures, this update could benefit you.
Samsung TV Plus is free: it doesn’t require a subscription, and now, it offers older Korean dramas that look decent on bigger screens. The company hasn’t announced whether and when the AI upscaling will expand to Korean dramas, but the technology sure looks promising.
If it works well, other genres or entire TV Plus channels could get similar upgrades, improving the overall visual quality for users. In the long term, the feature could start a trend in which streaming services stop relying on resource-intensive remastering of content and shift more toward real-time AI processing.