Looking at the Tantive Orange Errors Comparisons page the frame that really stood out to me as having the lifelikeness and greater depth of field was from the 1992 FS Dark Jedi Preservation, despite the blur/distortion.

I would love to see even just a clip of this just for comparison if this is still in existence. (Or any transfer that has comparable lifelikeness/d.o.f.)

I don't know whether its due to an effect of my own short sightedness or the amount of detail an individual's eyes is able to process (which must be finite) but my sense is that too much or too little information/distortion either way in a picture can interfere with the brains suspension of disbelief.

Even with a washed out transfer it can still suggest a real object to the brain, like say a watercolour painting can, but go too far the other way with amplified colour its initially powerful but the brain can't dial it back enough to make what its seeing become naturalistic (if thats what you want to do with the picture).

The trouble I guess is this is entirely subjective experience though and what the brain filters differently