Korean tech giant Samsung is partnering with Warner Bros to bring 8K movie trailers to TVs in order to advertise hardware in retail stores. However, there’s one main issue: no films are mastered in 8K resolution.
Samsung and Warner Bros reveal that retail stores showing off new displays will show 8K versions of WB movie trailers. The tech giant’s new 8K panels, including its NEO QLED 8K devices, will show off clips from new and upcoming films.
Warner Bros revealed that current 8K showings will start with clips from Creed 3. Future clips will be taken from Barbie, Blue Beetle, Dune: Part Two, Wonka and Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom.
However, as anyone familiar with the film industry should know, the vast majority of movies are now mastered in 8K. While many movies are filmed on an 8K sensor, they are typically mastered in 4K or, even more commonly, 2K. With CGI as sophisticated as it is, render farms typically export at 2K in order to deliver shots on time.
Out of all movie studios running today, Warner Bros is typically the best at releasing movies in a full 4K image. Movies such as The Batman have been released in a full 4K presentation on a 100GB triple-layer disc. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, there is no physical media that supports 8K movies, and no streaming service either. Just think about the bandwidth it would require.
This brings to mind an important question regarding 8K displays: is 8K even worth it? While modern upscaling tech can enhance visuals, movies are not releasing in 8K forms, and games do not support 8K resolutions, despite being advertised on the box of PlayStation 5 hardware.
Warner Bros and Samsung claim that there is a growing demand for 8K content, but is there really? While we love crisp visuals, we don’t see the demand there at all.