Katarzyna Petru
During the panel "From Classics to Cutting Edge" at the CEDIA 2025 trade show, representatives from Warner Bros and IMAX revealed the latest information regarding production and archiving in 8K. According to a report by the 8K Association, Warner has already digitalised 35–40 films in 8K resolution or higher – that's nearly twice as many as at the beginning of 2025.
8K as a standard for archiving, not distribution
Miles DelHoyo, the Director of Technical Strategy and Integration of New Formats at Warner Bros Discovery, admitted that the work in 8K is mainly focused on preserving the original copies of films in the highest possible quality, rather than on their immediate distribution.
“Most of our content is currently delivered in 4K HDR, but many of them already have 8K versions prepared for future use,” DelHoyo emphasised.
According to him, scanning a single 35 mm film in 8K takes about 3.5 times longer than in 4K. Among the titles processed in 8K are “2001: A Space Odyssey”, “Oppenheimer”, “Blade Runner” (1982), “The Wizard of Oz”, “Rebel Without a Cause”, “My Fair Lady”, and “West Side Story” (1961).
Some of them were shot on 65 mm film, while others in Vistavision or Technorama, which allowed for significantly higher detail than standard 35 mm.
IMAX: 8K is just the beginning
Greg Ciaccio, Vice President of Post Production at IMAX, noted that the IMAX film format has a theoretical potential of up to 18K. In practice, the company currently uses Lasergraphics Director 13.5K scanners and is working on further technology development.
“IMAX has been experimenting with 8K since 1972,” Ciaccio reminded us.
Although the post-production of most major releases – like “Oppenheimer” – is already taking place in 8K, special effects and CGI are still primarily created in 2K, which still poses a bottleneck in fully utilising the potential of this resolution.
8K will reach homes faster than cinemas
An interesting observation by Ciaccio was that the 8K ecosystem will develop faster in homes than in cinemas. The reason? There is still no DCI standard for digital cinemas in 8K.
“Televisions are getting larger, and the distance from the viewer remains the same – that’s why we need more pixels. The same goes for VR headsets, which in the future will achieve even 8K per eye” – stated a representative from IMAX.
Samsung has already showcased clips from films such as “Creed III”, “Barbie”, “Blue Beetle”, “Dune: Part Two”, and “Wonka” in 8K. However, despite the presence of the first 8K LCD televisions on the market, they still fall short of 4K OLEDs in terms of quality and price. Current VR goggles usually offer around 4K per eye, so full 8K in immersive headsets will still have to wait.
The world of film is slowly preparing for the 8K era. Warner Bros is scanning its archives, IMAX is pushing the boundaries of technology, and hardware manufacturers – like Samsung – are already showcasing the first footage in this resolution.
Although viewers will be watching films in 4K for a long time yet, everything indicates that the next generation of imagery is being created today – frame by frame, pixel by pixel.
