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 optically 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 three things: 2-flash HDR capture that pulls detail out of dense and faded stock, the sprocketless transport and warped-film gate that safely handle film you can no longer run through a projector — shrunken acetate, brittle splices, torn sprocket holes, warped stock — and optical and magnetic sound captured in the same pass as the image.
Capabilities
- True optical frame-by-frame capture at up to 5K resolution
- Sprocketless capstan transport — film held by friction drive, not sprocket teeth
- 2-flash HDR capture for dense, underexposed, and faded stock
- Warped-film gate — handles shrunken, warped, and brittle film
- Handles 8mm, Super 8, 16mm, and 35mm gauges natively (others by inquiry)
- Optical and magnetic sound captured in the same pass as the image
- DPX, TIFF, ProRes 4444, ProRes 422 HQ, and H.264 output pipelines
Technical specs
- Max resolution
- Up to 5K true optical — machine capability; tier deliverables 2K/4K
- Dynamic range
- 2-flash HDR capture
- Output formats
- DPX (10/16-bit) and TIFF masters; ProRes 4444, ProRes 422 HQ, H.264
- Color space
- Full RGB, color-managed through output
- Transport
- Sprocketless capstan with roller-supported, warped-film gate
- Sound
- Optical and magnetic, captured in the same pass as the image
- Supported gauges
- 8mm, Super 8 (silent & magnetic sound), 16mm (silent & optical/magnetic sound), 35mm safety film; other gauges by inquiry
- 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.
02Wet-gate problem-film scanner
MWA Flashscan Nova
German-built 4K archival scanner with a true wet-gate. The machine we reach for when film is scratched, abraded, or heavily worn — optical scratch suppression in fluid, not software.
The MWA Flashscan Nova is a 4K archival film scanner built by MWA Nova in Germany, with a 12-megapixel Sony sensor and 12-bit capture to uncompressed DPX or TIFF. Its defining capability is a true wet-gate: during scanning, the film passes through a fluid whose refractive index matches the film base, so base scratches are optically filled and largely disappear from the scan itself. That is a genuine archival technique — scratch suppression at capture time, not software scratch removal applied afterward.
The Nova is the lab’s problem-film scanner, and it complements the ScanStation well. Where the ScanStation’s strength is fast, rock-steady HDR capture across every gauge, the Nova is where scratched, abraded, and heavily worn reels route. It handles 8mm, Super 8, 16mm, and Super 16, with dedicated optical and magnetic sound heads for sound film.
Capabilities
- 4K capture on a 12-megapixel Sony sensor
- True wet-gate — base scratches optically suppressed in fluid at scan time
- 12-bit capture to uncompressed DPX or TIFF
- Dedicated optical and magnetic sound heads
- Sprocketless transport safe for shrunken and brittle film
- Handles 8mm, Super 8, 16mm, and Super 16
Technical specs
- Sensor
- 12-megapixel Sony CMOS
- Max resolution
- 4K
- Bit depth
- 12-bit capture
- Gate system
- True wet-gate (fluid scratch suppression); dry gate available
- Supported gauges
- 8mm, Super 8, 16mm, Super 16
- Output
- Uncompressed DPX, TIFF
- Typical use
- Scratched, abraded, and heavily worn film — wet-gate work at any tier
When we use which scanner.Most film runs on the ScanStation for its speed, HDR capture, and gauge flexibility. Reels with base scratches, heavy wear, or surface damage route to the Flashscan Nova, where the wet-gate suppresses scratches optically at scan time. The routing is decided per reel from the condition report — based on the film’s condition, not on which tier you bought.
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 Archival with optional SSD archive drive).
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 | ScanStation; Flashscan Nova for wet-gate work |
| Resolution | 2K | 2K (2048 × 1556) | 4K — scans up to 5K on request for 16mm/35mm, quoted |
| Master codec | H.264 / MP4 | ProRes 422 HQ + H.264 | DPX / ProRes 4444 + ProRes 422 HQ + H.264 |
| Bit depth | 8-bit | 10-bit | DPX (10/16-bit), 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 + optional SSD archive |
| Standards | — | — | Informed by FADGI motion-picture guidance, documented |
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
How our scanning is structured.
A short note on how FPL operates — one lab, one operator, equipment we own.
The equipment on this page is ours, in-house — every reel is scanned by us, on machines we own.
FPL controls the entire process. Intake, inspection, condition reporting, prep, splice repair, cleaning, scanning, color correction, quality control, delivery, and return shipping are all performed by us, in one lab, on our own equipment, with our own hands.
The scanners — the Lasergraphics ScanStation and the MWA Flashscan Nova — are owned and operated by FPL, with one operator and one chain of custody from intake to return. Nothing is outsourced. None of your film is ever routed through third-party facilities, consolidator networks, or overseas processing, and chain-of-custody documentation at the Archival tier covers every step.
Want to ask about it directly? Questions about the equipment or the workflow 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.