Katarzyna Petru
During the panel "From Classics to Cutting Edge" at the CEDIA 2025 trade show, representatives of 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 digitised 35–40 films in 8K resolution or higher – almost double the number from the beginning of 2025.
8K as a Standard for Archiving, Not Distribution
Miles DelHoyo, Director of Technical Strategy and New Format Integration at Warner Bros Discovery, acknowledged that work in 8K primarily focuses on preserving original copies of films in the highest possible quality, rather than their immediate distribution.
“We currently deliver most content 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 these were shot on 65 mm film, while others in Vistavision or Technorama formats, 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, pointed out that the IMAX film format has theoretical potential reaching 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 recalled.
While the post-production of most major releases – such as “Oppenheimer” – is already taking place in 8K, special effects and CGI are still mainly created in 2K, which still presents a bottleneck in fully harnessing the potential of this resolution.
8K will reach homes faster than cinemas
A fascinating observation from Ciaccio was that the 8K ecosystem will develop faster in homes than in cinemas. The reason? There is still no DCI standard for digital cinema in 8K.
“Televisions are getting larger, while 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 up to 8K per eye” – stated a representative from IMAX.
Samsung has already showcased snippets of 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 behind 4K OLEDs in terms of quality and price. Current VR goggles usually offer around 4K per eye, so full 8K in immersive headsets will have to wait a bit longer.
The world of film is slowly preparing for the era of 8K. Warner Bros is scanning its archives, IMAX is pushing the boundaries of technology, and hardware manufacturers – like Samsung – are already showcasing the first materials in this resolution.
Although audiences will be watching films in 4K for a long time, it seems that the next generation of imagery is being created today – frame by frame, pixel by pixel.
