Winding & inspection bench
Every reel hand-inspected frame by frame on a calibrated winding bench before it goes near a scanner. Splice condition, shrinkage, brittleness, mold, perforation damage, and color fade all documented.
01Primary film scanner
Lasergraphics ScanStation
The preservation industry's working standard for frame-by-frame scanning. What the major archives use. What we use.
The Lasergraphics ScanStation is the scanner of record for most institutional and preservation work in North America. It’s installed at UCLA Film & Television Archive, the Library of Congress Packard Campus, Harvard Film Archive, MoMA, and dozens of other collections that take their holdings seriously. It’s the machine every premium commercial lab uses, because no other product at a commercial price point matches what it does.
Most of what separates archival scanning from conversion services comes down to this machine and how it’s operated. Frame-by-frame capture through a true optical path, with every individual frame pin-registered and photographed as an independent image. No projector, no rolling shutter, no motion blur from real-time transfer. What comes out the other end is a sequence of frame files that can be reassembled into any output format you need.
What makes the ScanStation the right tool for preservation specifically is the combination of two things: the optical pin-registration that produces rock-steady scans frame over frame, and the sprocketless transport that safely handles film you can no longer run through a projector — shrunken acetate, brittle splices, torn sprocket holes, warped stock.
Capabilities
- True optical frame-by-frame capture at up to 4K resolution (3840 × 2160)
- Sprocketless capstan transport — film held by friction drive, not sprocket teeth
- 16-bit linear color capture, retaining full dynamic range for color grading later
- Handles 8mm, Super 8, 16mm, and 35mm gauges natively with gate/reel changes
- Magnetic and optical sound capture in sync with picture (16mm and Super 8)
- Pin-registered stability for cinema-grade rock-steady output
- DPX, ProRes 4444, ProRes 422 HQ, and H.264 output pipelines
Technical specs
- Sensor
- Three-CMOS RGB area sensor
- Max resolution
- 4K true optical (3840 × 2160) at native gauge
- Bit depth
- 16-bit linear per channel (DPX, Cineon log)
- Color space
- Full RGB, color-managed through output
- Transport
- Sprocketless capstan with roller-supported gate
- Supported gauges
- 8mm, Super 8 (silent & magnetic sound), 16mm (silent & optical/magnetic sound), 35mm safety film
- Max reel size
- 2,000 ft (16mm), 1,000 ft (35mm)
The sprocketless story, in one line.Projector-based services and consumer scanners pull film through their mechanism using sprocket teeth that engage the film’s perforations. That works fine for good film. It destroys bad film. The ScanStation’s capstan drive holds the film only by edge friction, so shrinkage, torn perfs, and brittle stock are no obstacle. This is why a 50-year-old Super 8 reel with vinegar syndrome can come out the other side with every frame captured.
02Professional 4K scanner
MWA Choice
German-built 4K professional scanner. Used where output fidelity and throughput matter most — documentary restoration, institutional contracts, commercial projects.
The MWA Choice is a 4K professional film scanner built by MWA Nova in Germany, with a reputation among working post-production facilities for optical sharpness and consistent color reproduction at professional throughput rates. It’s the machine we reach for on Archival tier projects where output quality is the whole point, and on larger commercial and institutional contracts where consistency across thousands of feet is as important as the peak quality of any single frame.
The Choice complements the ScanStation well. Where the ScanStation’s strength is the flexibility of its gate system and the resilience of its transport for difficult film, the Choice’s strength is the optical sharpness of its scans at 4K and the cleanness of its color pipeline on well-preserved stock. For Archival tier 16mm and 35mm projects where the source film is in reasonable condition, the Choice produces a master file that stands up to professional post-production and theatrical projection.
Capabilities
- 4K true optical capture with precision area sensor
- High-precision gate with pin-registration for exceptional frame stability
- 16-bit linear color depth with calibrated color management
- Supports 16mm and 35mm (primary) with additional gauges configurable
- Real-time proxy generation alongside master capture
- DPX output optimized for digital intermediate workflows
- Throughput suited to larger professional and institutional projects
Technical specs
- Sensor
- High-resolution color area sensor
- Max resolution
- 4K true optical at 35mm, equivalent-scaled at 16mm
- Bit depth
- 16-bit per channel
- Gate system
- Precision pin-registration with configurable aperture
- Primary gauges
- 16mm, 35mm (additional gauges configurable)
- Output
- DPX, ProRes 4444, ProRes 422 HQ
- Typical use
- Archival tier, professional restoration, institutional
When we use which scanner.Consumer Access and Preservation tiers use the ScanStation for its workflow speed and flexibility. Archival tier projects — especially 16mm and 35mm — typically route to the MWA Choice where its optical sharpness at 4K and color pipeline produce the strongest masters. The choice is made per project based on source film condition, output tier, and gauge.
03 / Supporting workflow
What happens before and after the scan.
A scan is only as good as the film it starts with and the pipeline it ends in. The equipment around the scanners — inspection, cleaning, color grading, quality control — determines whether you get a scan or a deliverable.
Hand-cleaning bench
Each reel hand-cleaned at the prep bench using lint-free pads and conservation-grade solutions. Splices repaired by hand. At Preservation and Archival tiers, reels are rewound onto new plastic industry-standard reels for safe long-term storage.
Hand splicer & cement
Failed tape and cement splices rebuilt by hand before scanning. Film is never otherwise modified — any splice repair is strictly functional, and the original splice location is documented in the condition report.
Magnetic & optical sound path
Super 8 magnetic stripe and 16mm optical/magnetic sound captured in sync with picture through the scanner’s dedicated audio path. No separate transfer step, no sync drift. 48 kHz / 24-bit alongside picture.
DaVinci Resolve workstation
Every scan passes through a calibrated color grading workstation. Preservation tier receives scene-by-scene correction; Archival tier receives a full color-managed grading pass. Reference monitor calibrated to Rec.709 and DCI-P3.
QC review workstation
Every delivered file reviewed before release — checking for dropouts, sync issues, color inconsistencies, and artifacts. Files released only after passing QC. The difference between a file that leaves the scanner and a file that leaves the lab.
Calibrated video capture
Dedicated decks for VHS/S-VHS, Hi8/Video8/Digital8, MiniDV, Betamax, and U-matic. Time-base corrected capture into calibrated HD at 1080p. MiniDV and Digital8 captured as direct bitstream with zero generation loss.
Epson V850 Pro flatbed
Professional flatbed for prints, slides, and negatives. 6400 DPI optical resolution, dual-lens system for reflective and transparency scanning. Calibrated monthly, color-managed through the full pipeline.
Multi-tier digital storage
Working storage on mirrored RAID for active projects. Delivery via secure Vault link. Long-term retention per service tier (30 days Access, 1 year Preservation, 1 year + optional LTO Archival).
04 / What you get
Output by service tier.
The equipment above produces different output per tier. This is the matrix — what resolution, what codecs, what color pipeline, what deliverable format.
| Specification | AccessTier 1 | PreservationTier 2 · default | ArchivalTier 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scanner used | Lasergraphics ScanStation | Lasergraphics ScanStation | MWA Choice (16mm/35mm) or ScanStation |
| Resolution | 1080p (1920 × 1080) | 2K (2048 × 1556) | 4K — 8K (format dependent) |
| Master codec | H.264 / MP4 | ProRes 422 HQ + H.264 | DPX / ProRes 4444 + ProRes 422 HQ + H.264 |
| Bit depth | 8-bit | 10-bit | 16-bit (DPX), 12-bit (ProRes 4444) |
| Color correction | Basic pass | Scene-by-scene | Full color-managed graded pass |
| Cleaning | Hand wipe | Full hand cleaning + new reels | Full hand cleaning + new reels + archival packaging |
| Backup retention | 30 days | 1 year | 1 year + LTO option |
| FADGI compliance | — | — | Available on request (+$150) |
Full specifications for every deliverable. The matrix above summarizes. The complete technical specifications for every tier — sampling, transfer function, metadata, file naming, directory structure — are available in our pricing documentation and on each service page. Professional and institutional buyers can request a full technical specification sheet via inquiry.
05 / Our workflow today
How our scanning is structured.
A short, honest note on how FPL operates right now — because you deserve to know, and because hiding it would erode the trust the rest of this page is designed to build.
The equipment on this page is what we use for your scanning — via an established partnership during our transition period.
FPL controls your entire experience. Intake, inspection, condition reporting, prep, splice repair, cleaning, color correction, quality control, delivery, and return shipping are all performed by us, on our own equipment, with our own hands. This is roughly 80% of what determines whether a scan is a real archival deliverable or a conversion.
The physical frame-by-frame scanning step — where film runs through the Lasergraphics ScanStation or MWA Choice — is currently performed through a dedicated partnership with an established lab whose equipment and operator expertise we have worked with for years. One specific lab, one specific operator, full chain-of-custody documentation at the Archival tier covering every hand-off. None of your film is ever routed through unnamed third-party facilities, consolidator networks, or overseas processing.
The partnership arrangement reflects where we sit on a deliberate timeline: we’re bringing scanning equipment fully in-house as a scheduled handover during the next phase of the business, with customer experience unchanged when the transition completes. We’re being transparent about this now because the alternative — presenting the lab as larger than it is — isn’t how we want to build the relationship with you.
Want to ask about it directly? Questions about the partnership, the equipment, or the transition timeline are welcome — institutional and professional buyers especially. We answer specifically rather than vaguely. Send an inquiry or read our full about page for more context.
See the equipment at work
Specs are a page. Output is the proof.
The best way to understand what this equipment produces is to see a scan from it. We can send sample frames from the scanner, at your tier, for any format you’re considering — at no cost and no commitment.