No, it's not actually this bad, but the fan remasters I have seen definitely suffer from the usual AI "upscaling" issues like smooth skin, weird text, etc. What is the best quality these shows can actually be found in?
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AI disclaimer: If it's not obvious, the punchline at the bottom is an AI-generated image. I found it by browsing already-generated Trek-themed AI images. I believe this post fits the AI rule on this community, but I understand if not. My first idea for the punchline was to run a photo of the DS9 cast through a 2015-ish Deep Dream model or whatever (the kind that makes nonsense like this), but apparently that's no longer a thing.
Deep Space Nine and Voyager were definitely filmed using 30mm film. Most of Star Trek in the TNG era was (even a lot of Enterprise):
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Panavision
This included a lot of model shots. Deep Space Nine used only model shots until switching over to CG ships and CG-enhanced model shots during the Dominion War arc. Voyager was the first series to use CG models extensively throughout, but many stock shots of Voyager itself were done on film:
I think what you heard about tapes might be due to Paramount releasing these shows directly into syndication during a time when TV stations were switching over to digital equipment. They probably sent tapes to the various stations instead of actual reels of film.
That's great to hear, and brings back hope that there is a chance. Like Dr Who, lost collections do exist if anything is missing. And fans will go to all sorts of lengths to recover source media if given the opportunity, just look at the animated show Reboot and what the teams are doing to rebuild the video equipment that was used in their processes.
I posted this in another comment but I think you'd enjoy it if you haven't already read it. https://blog.trekcore.com/2013/07/voyagers-visual-effects-creating-the-cg-voyager-with-rob-bonchune/