We're trying to spread out the screencaps a bit because of the big gap between Seasons 2 and 3, but as it's a topic of conversation here are the advanced caps from the shot you mentioned in SAMARITAN SNARE:
http://i.imgur.com/A7ZmMKN.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/90Pr3lW.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/N4ml8GB.jpg
Hmm. I think my memory was misleading me. These frames look quite a bit more detailed and full of grain than even the same type of shot in "The Child":
http://tng.trekcore.com/hd/albums/2x01/thechild_hd_160.jpg
http://tng.trekcore.com/hd/albums/2x01/thechild_hd_161.jpg
This is definitely the best treatment we've seen of these anamorphically lensed shots. Maybe they finally decided by the time they got to "Samaritan Snare" to scale up the shot to 3656 x 1556 before they did the digital pan?