PlayStation emulators: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:48, 11 June 2026

For the hybrid console, see PSX.

For the emulator, see PSX (emulator).

PlayStation

Developer	Sony Computer Entertainment
Manufacturer	Sony Electronics
Type	Home video game console
Generation	Fifth
Release date	3 December 1994
Discontinued	EU: 19 October 2001 (PS one only) WW: 23 March 2006
Successor	PlayStation 2
Emulated	✓

For emulators that run on the PlayStation, see Emulators on PlayStation.

The PlayStation (also referred to by the shorthand PS1, and by the PSX codename) is a fifth-generation console released by Sony Computer Entertainment on December 3, 1994, in Japan and September 9, 1995, in the US, and retailed for $299.99 ($634 in 2026). It had an R3000 CPU at 33.8688 MHz with 2 MBs of RAM and 1 MB of VRAM. It used a proprietary MDEC video compression unit integrated into the CPU, allowing for playback of full-motion video at a higher quality than other consoles of its generation. It had better stereo sound than that of other stereos at that time.

The PlayStation was particularly attractive to developers because of the relative ease of programming and the low cost of CD-based media. Sony also had a more inclusive policy towards third-party developers, resulting in more third-party games than the Nintendo 64. A PlayStation CD had a maximum capacity of 600MB, while the N64's was limited to 64MB.

PlayStation emulation has been available since the late 1990s, and was generally better than the comparable Nintendo 64 offerings despite the use of a plugin system. The plugins and emulators were often closed-source, rarely updated, and of questionable accuracy, but new offerings emerging starting in the mid-2010s offer high accuracy, many enhancements over the original hardware, or both.

Emulators

Before editing, review the Getting involved and Recommended pages. See system requirements page for performance demand of the emulators.
The tables for the following features are linked here: arcade variants • enhancements • Immersion features • hardware features & peripherals.
For more details such as licensing, programming language, emulation method, visit each emulator’s dedicated page.
Name	Latest version	Active	License	Compatibility	Recommended
x86-64
DuckStation	Preview (nightly) Latest (stable) Older builds for obsolete hardware	✓	CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Source-available)	99.17% 1199 out of 1209 reported titles 113 issues (unofficial) 99% 1787 out of 1805 reported titles Alternative maintained list	✓
Mednafen	1.32.1 Beetle/Beetle HW^{[lower-alpha 1]}	✓	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	?	✓
XEBRA	22/11/06	✗	Proprietary	?	~
BizHawk (Mednafen)(MAME)	2.11.1 Dev builds	✓	MIT GPL	? (Core-dependent)	~
PCSX-ReARMed^{[lower-alpha 2]} PCSX-R/PGXP (Obsolete)	PCSX-ReARMed PGXP build (Obsolete) PCSX-R SVN builds (Obsolete)	~^{[lower-alpha 3]}	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	? (Plugin-dependent)	~^{[lower-alpha 4]}
SwanStation	libretro core	~	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	?	~
ares	git Artifacts v148	✓	ISC (Permissive)	1.18% 105 out of 8870 reported titles	WIP
PCSX-Redux	git	✓	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	?	WIP*
psxe	0.10.5-alpha	✓	MIT (Permissive)	?	WIP*
ScePSX	0.2.1.1	✓	MIT (Permissive)	?	WIP
ProjectPSX	git	~	MIT (Permissive)	?	WIP*
hpsx64	v0490	✓	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	?	WIP
StarPSX	0.8.3	✓	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	?	WIP
NO$PSX	2.3	?	Proprietary	?	✗
MAME	git artifacts^{[lower-alpha 5]} 0.289 libretro core	✓	GPLv2 BSD-3-Clause	?	✗
ePSXe	[http://www.epsxe.com/download.php This page is a candidate for deletion. The reason is: "duplicate template" If you disagree with the candidate, explain why at the talk page or improve the page and remove the `{{delete}}` tag. Remember to check for any active links to the page and its history before deleting. ]	✓	Proprietary	? (Plugin-dependent)	✗
PSXACT	git	✗	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	?	✗
Rustation	git(Rustation NG) git	~*^{[lower-alpha 6]}	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	?	✗
Avocado	git	✗	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	70.05% 262 out of 374 reported titles	✗
pSX	1.13	✗	Proprietary	?	✗
Bleem!	1.6b	✗	Proprietary	?	✗
SSSPSX	0.0.34	✗	Proprietary	? (Plugin-dependent)	✗
PSXeven	v0.19	✗	Proprietary	?	✗
ARM64
DuckStation	Beta git Play Store Latest (Windows/Mac) 0.0.1.02 Pyra	✓	Proprietary^{[lower-alpha 7]}	?	✓
Mednafen^{[lower-alpha 8]}	Beetle/Beetle HW (This is port of Mednafen PSX core to the libretro API.)	✓	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	?	✓
XEBRA	25/08/25	✗	Proprietary	?	~
ares	git Artifacts v148	✓	ISC (Permissive)	39.85% 104 out of 261 reported titles	✗
PCSX-Redux	git	✓	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	?	WIP*
PCSX-ReARMed^{[lower-alpha 8]}	libretro core 0.1 Pyra	✓	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	?	~
SwanStation	libretro core	~	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	?	~
ScePSX	0.2.1.1	✓	MIT (Permissive)	?	WIP
ePSXe^{[lower-alpha 9]}	2.0.18	✓	Proprietary	? (Plugin-dependent)	~
StarPSX	0.8.3	✓	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	?	WIP
MAME	libretro core	✓	GPLv2 BSD-3-Clause	?	WIP
Avocado	git	~	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	?	✗
FPse^{[lower-alpha 9]}	13.0	✓	Proprietary	? (Plugin-dependent)	✗
Manic EMU	2.0.0 git	✓	AGPLv3 (Copyleft)	?	?
Provenance	3.3.0 git	✓	?	?	?
Folium	App Store ($) 2.0 Latest IPA	✓	?	?	?
Console
DuckStation	Build (Xbox) git (Xbox) Prerelease 2 (Switch)	✗	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	?	✓
Official Sony emulators	r13 (PS2) 6.60 (PSP) 4.82 (PS3) 2.60 (PSVita) SYRUP (PS4/PS5)	~	Proprietary	99% 1354 out of 1367 reported titles (PS3) 90% 479 out of 530 reported titles (PSP) 51% 213 out of 413 reported titles (PS4/PS5)	✓
PCSX-ReARMed^{[lower-alpha 2]}	libretro core	✓	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	65.44% 214 out of 327 reported titles	✓
SwanStation	libretro core	~	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	?	~
WiiSXRX	git	✓	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	?	✓
Bleemcast	?	✗	Proprietary	?	~

↑ This is port of Mednafen PSX core to the libretro API.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Only available as a libretro core.
↑ PCSX-ReARMed fork is still active.
↑ If you have a potato/low-end tier setup or incompatibility issues with DuckStation/SwanStation (unofficial libretro core) , mednafen/Beetle/Beetle HW (This is port of Mednafen PSX core to the libretro API.) or XEBRA try your luck with PCSX-ReARMed.
↑ CI-Windows CI-Linux CI-Macos
↑ Rustation NG still active.
↑ Android only.
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 Only available on mobile as a libretro core.
↑ ^9.0 ^9.1 Payware. It's recommended that you use the patched versions.

Comparisons

For accuracy tests comparison of these emulators, see Emulation accuracy#Further reading.
DuckStation: Quickly became a top contender on the basis that it has high compatibility and a built-in modern QT GUI. Its stated goal is to be "as accurate as possible while maintaining performance suitable for low-end devices." While PCSX-R has long dethroned ePSXe in features, DuckStation is the first to address all the shortcomings of plugin-based offerings thus far, as all of its features are available out-of-the-box, and no configuration is necessary to get games running outside of obtaining the original system firmware. Duckstation has lots of modern enhancements built-in and supports some of the hardware features, peripherals. An Android version is also available, although it doesn't have feature parity with the desktop builds.

SwanStation: A hard fork and open-source Libretro core implementation of DuckStation for RetroArch. It could be considered as separate emulator at this point, so there is no point in chasing after any kind of upstream and it is under development. Recommended to use standalone DuckStation but if you really want to use a libretro core for PlayStation 1 emulation it's a good option along with beetle PSX and PCSX-ReARMed libretro cores. Since standalone version is significantly more actively developed, some enhancements and hardware features haven't been implemented in this one. However, because it's a libretro core, you can still leverage some of the libretro enhancement features with this core specifically.

Mednafen

Is heavily focused on accuracy, and also it has very good compatibility. It's even been known to outperform Sony's official PlayStation emulator in some of the accuracy tests. However, there are a few hurdles to using it; it requires a specific BIOS for each region, and the program interfaces from a shell only; it has no GUI. You can still drag-and-drop CUE files into the executable to load games, and the program will log errors to a text file called stdout whenever a crash happens. External GUI launchers are available.

Beetle PSX: This fork by the RetroArch developers has several experimental modifications and enhancements that aren't present in the standalone version, including a widescreen hack, CPU overclocking for smoother framerates, and increasing the internal resolution up to 8x. Increasing the resolution carries a heavy performance cost, however, since graphics are rendered in-software, an alternative core exists for hardware rendering. See this 2018 guide for setting up Beetle HW in RetroArch. Needs high-end specifications to run at full speed for Android and iOS devices.

XEBRA: An emulator made in Japan that also has high compatibility though games that require subchannel data are not supported. It is heavily focused on accuracy similarly to Mednafen. The UI is in English, but because it's not the developer's native language, some of the naming conventions may seem weird compared to other emulators (for example, the BIOS is referred to as OSROM). Luckily, there's a guide that helps explain how each option works. Also supports some of the hardware features and peripherals which is not found in other recommended emulators.

BizHawk: Uses two cores ported from Mednafen for PlayStation emulation: "Octoshock" core (by zeromus) and "Nymashock" core (by CasualPokePlayer). BizHawk emulator is accepted by Speedrun community and actually more preferred compared to other recommended emulators because: it's more suitable for catching those who try and pass off RTA runs as TASes. The "Nymashock" core is more preferred between the two, with public talks about removing the "Octoshock" core. Further that only Mednafen and BizHawk accepted for certain games like CTR.

ScePSX: Core code based on ProjectPSX.

NO$PSX: Has two versions, but standard users will want to use the cut-down gaming version. Made in the same style as NO$GBA, where it handles the PocketStation, it offers decent compatibility with very low-spec requirements – the programmer's philosophy is to deliver a working application out of the box.

PCSX: PCSX was an early PlayStation emulator which was one of the first open-source ones to use the PSEmu Pro plugin specification. It was abandoned after its developers created PCSX2 (which initially shared a very similar design) and shifted their focus to that.

PCSX-Reloaded

An open-source, plugin-based emulator based on PCSX-df, itself based on PCSX. It is no longer recommended, as DuckStation has all the same benefits as PCSX-R without needing to use forks or old plugins.

PCSX-ReARMed: An ARM fork whose biggest draw is its NEON software renderer, which is both fast and accurate and can render at higher resolutions without resorting to HLE plugins. It was given the seal of approval by Sony after being used in the official PlayStation Classic emulation box.^[1]

PCSX-Redux: Latest iteration of PCSX, but dropped the plugin system to create a single monolithic codebase that handles all aspects of PlayStation emulation. Heavily focused on development, debuggability, and reverse engineering, but still perfectly usable to run PlayStation 1 titles. PCSX-Redux also supports OpenBIOS - a free, truly open source bios replacement for the PS1, which works on the real hardware and emulators.

MAME: By nature of supporting arcade systems similar to the PlayStation, MAME's "Sony PlayStation" driver (psj) is considered "preliminary", but it works; it can boot to the BIOS and launch games but expect bugs, especially between hardware revisions. The MAME project as a whole remains active, but there's little incentive for any of its developers to work on the PS1 driver. However, recent years have seen some significant improvements to PlayStation-based arcade hardware, which may carry over to playing some console games.

ePSXe: Despite having widespread name recognition, it is unfortunately not an emulator we recommend using on PC anymore. The source code is closed, meaning development is beholden to the original developers. Updates have brought it on par with PCSX-R, but that isn't enough. They are also selling a paid Android port.

pSXfin: A simpler emulator with a lot of compatibility issues.^[2] Development has been halted, and it remains closed-source. It's really only useful for very old toasters.

Avocado: Was slated to become an open-source, full-system emulator like DuckStation, with the caveat being that it could load games without a BIOS. That never panned out, as development has largely stopped.

Backwards-compatible emulators

PCSX2: This emulator supports PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility hardware feature. However, one thing to note is that backward compatibility in the original PlayStation 2 hardware didn't cover all the games in the PlayStation 1 library, and naturally these limitations carry forward to PCSX2's emulation, on top of that PCSX2's backwards compatibility emulation still not perfect at the moment.

See PlayStation 2 emulators hardware features and peripherals section for more information.

RPCS3: This emulator supports PlayStation 3 backwards compatibility hardware feature. However there is no PocketStation communication and ps1_emu support at the moment, only ps1_netemu is supported. Tweet from 6 May 2019: "RPCS3 supports Sony's PS1_netemu as of today. PS2emu is not yet supported. Both these emulators are present in the PS3 Firmware for backwards compatibility." ps2_emu used for PlayStation 2 emulation, ps1_emu used for disc-based PlayStation games and ps1_netemu for PlayStation Classics from PSN.

See PlayStation 3 emulators hardware features and peripherals section for more information.

Consoles

POPS (short for PlayStation On PSP System) is Sony's official PS1 emulator for their PlayStation Store releases. It utilizes EBOOTs, a form of binary file for PSP, instead of BIN/CUE disc dumps, which can be made using a converter if desired. Compatibility is very high due to similar hardware design; although the GPU is emulated, the CPU is close to the PS1 and would naturally speed up performance on its own. It includes support for multi-disc games (within the one EBOOT). Only the native PS1 resolution is supported, with games being stretched to fit the screen as the user wishes.

PCSX-ReARMed is only available on consoles as a libretro core (e.g., RetroArch). It can run on various handheld consoles with fairly strong specs, like the PlayStation Vita, the Nintendo 3DS, and the Nintendo Switch. This emulator in the libretro build initially used the P.E.Op.S. graphics plugin (reasonably accurate, but slow) from the mid-2010s to 2019; now it uses a port of PCSX4ALL's Unai renderer, which is less accurate, but much faster (e.g., 10-20 FPS faster). The CHD compression format, which shrinks disc images into more manageable sizes, is enabled on this emulator on the 3DS. These images will load and run much faster than '.bin/.cue' files - greatly reducing framerate dips, i.e., in FMVs & loading zones.

PS2PSXe is an unofficial PS1 emulator for the PS2. However, compatibility is very low. Double disc swapping (using the same method as a real PS1) is required for PS2s with model numbers SCPH-100xx - SCPH-390xx.

The PlayStation 3 has a built-in software emulator with very high compatibility, which is used for PS1 releases on the PlayStation Store and for handling PlayStation CD-ROM discs.

WiiSX is a port of PCSX to the Wii. Compatibility is fairly low due to the weak power of the Wii and the differing hardware designs that make PowerPC requirements a little stronger. It's generally not worth using since it doesn't get updated.

Enhancements

Please only include recommended emulators in this table. Do not bump or spam GitHub threads, issues, or feature request pages.
Name		DuckStation	Mednafen
Controls	Input lag mitigating	✓	~^{[lower-alpha 1]}
	Mouse injector	✓*	~*
	Turbo button	✓*	✓
Graphics	Parallel/Precision Geometry Transform Pipeline	✓	~^{[lower-alpha 1]}
	Pre-rendering anti-aliasing (MSAA, SSAA)	✓	?
	Ray tracing (DXR, VRT and MRT)	Implementing ray tracing in an emulator is unfortunately quite challenging and unlikely to be feasible in the near future. However you can try "Screen-Space Ray Traced Global Illumination" shader using ReShade. See here and here
	Resizable internal resolution	✓	~^{[lower-alpha 1]}
	RTX Remix	Implementing RTX Remix technology in an emulator is unfortunately quite challenging and unlikely to be feasible in the near future. Besides, DuckStation already supports most of RTX Remix features such as texture replacement and post-processing effects etc. On top of that you can use ReShade for post-processing and unofficial fork for taking 3d screenshots.
	Scaled dithering Scales the dither pattern to the resolution scale of the emulated GPU. This makes the dither pattern much less obvious at higher resolutions.	✓	?
	Texture filtering (Nearest-Neighbor, Bilinear, JINC2, xBR) Textures on the PlayStation are typically displayed with "blocky" edges due to lack of texture filtering. This enhancement is software-based solution that can significantly enhance texture appearances.	✓	?
	Texture replacement	✓^{[lower-alpha 2]}	~^{[lower-alpha 2]}
	True color debanding Applies modern dithering techniques (performed during rendering as opposed to a post-processing step) to further smooth out gradients when true color is enabled. You can use one of the existing deband post-processing shader for this, but this one works with internal rendering which makes it both faster and more precise. No loss of detail occurs, and no tweaking of thresholds is required.	✗^{[lower-alpha 3]}	?
	True color rendering In practice, PlayStation games stored colour in 15 bits. 24-bit colour mode was mostly used for still images. This enhancement forces the precision of colours output to the console's framebuffer to use the full 8 bits of precision per channel. It is useful especially on non-CRT displays, producing nicer looking gradients.	✓	?
	Widescreen hack	✓	~^{[lower-alpha 1]}
Performance	Frame generation technologies (LSFG, DLSS-FG and SM, XeSS-FG, AFMF and FSR FG)	Implementing frame generation technology in an emulator is unfortunately quite challenging and unlikely to be feasible in the near future, however post-processing techniques such as motion interpolation is quite possible. Input latency will be a crucial factor, but its impact likely varies depending on the specific technique employed, it's recommended to use after applying the "Internal Framerate Hack" and "skip presenting duplicate frames option". While AFMF or LSFG could be used with DuckStation or Mednafen, please be aware that some visual glitches and artifacts may occur at this time.
	Internal frame rate hack	✓	~^{[lower-alpha 1]}
	Overclock	✓	~^{[lower-alpha 1]}
	Preload optical disc image to RAM For users with sluggish multi-platter HDDs or plagued by horrible seek times, this enhancement might offer smoother experience, potentially reduced power consumption; it also shines when disc images reside on a network drive. Although keep in mind that preloading image would take some time, and it will require additional amount of RAM capacity.	✓	✓*
	Rendering latency reduction technologies (LatencyFleX, Reflex, Xe-LL and Anti-Lag+)	While most emulators offer frame pacing or framebuffer latency control options, implementing rendering latency reduction technologies isn't currently feasible. This is likely doesn't offer enough benefit to justify the development effort.
Post-processing	AI-powered filter compatible (Freestyle)	?	?
	Down-sampling (Box and Adaptive) In some scenarios, you can consider this option as an alternative to Pre-rendering AA. In mixed 2D/3D games, where some elements might be inherently pixelated (2D) and others might have smoother textures (3D), Downsampling can create a more visually consistent look by softening the pixelated elements. But 3D games already utilize techniques to create smooth textures and avoid a pixelated look. Downsampling in this case would simply blur the image unnecessarily and potentially reduce image quality.	✓	?
	Filters	✓	✓
	Deinterlacing	✓	~^{[lower-alpha 4]}
	Inverse tone mapping compatible	?	?
	Post-rendering anti-aliasing (FXAA, TXAA and MLAA/SMAA)	✓^{[lower-alpha 5]}	✓
	Post-rendering scaling (Sharp bilinear, Lanczos and FSR 1)	✓	✓*
	Shader chain	✓^{[lower-alpha 6]}	~^{[lower-alpha 1]}
Quality of life	Automatic emulated controller connect/disconnect Automatically connects or disconnects emulated controllers when a new or current controller is connected or disconnected.	✗	✗
	Automatic region-switching	✓	?
	Automatic updater	✓	~^{[lower-alpha 4]}
	Big Picture Mode	✓	~^{[lower-alpha 1]}
	Built-in cheat manager	✓	✓
	Built-in custom resolution/CRTSwitchRes For using this on Windows OS you need CRT Emudriver. Another option is using EDID editor tool such as "Custom Resolution Utility".	Exclusive to libretro cores and GroovyMAME at the moment. Also there is a project for achieving software emulators like libretro cores and GroovyMAME send the raw RGB data over a network to a core running on MiSTer, it basically turns the MiSTer into a GPU for the emulator allowing for easy setup and use with CRT TVs/Arcade monitors.
	Built-in memory card manager	✓	?
	Built-in mod editor and manager	✗	✗
	Built-in patch manager	?	?
	Capable image format support	✓	?
	Command-line options	✓	?
	Index/Compatibility databases Many modern emulators incorporate database-driven per-game overrides to apply targeted fixes or tweaks for quality-of-life (QoL) improvement without requiring users to manually edit global config files for each title. This approach allows quick, centralized application of workarounds for specific games, such as graphics fixes, timing adjustments, or compatibility flags, while keeping the emulator's default settings intact. This auto fix feature shouldn't be confused with "Per-game profiles" enhancement feature.	✓	?
	On-screen display Showcases messages, controller input state which is useful for speedrunners, performance data, active settings, and various notifications.	✓	✓
	Pause/Resume emulation	✓	✓
	Per-game profiles	✓	?
	Portable and stealth Useful enhancement feature for non-personal computer use or plug-and-play scenarios. However, the software may still require the necessary prerequisites and dependencies for your operating system if it is not statically linked.	✓	✓
	SDL backend support Provides controller plug-and-play and automatic input mapping through SDL GameController database.	✓	?
	Streamable compression format	✓	~^{[lower-alpha 1]}
	Variable refresh rate compatible	✓*	~^{[lower-alpha 1]}
TAS features	Fast forward/Turbo speed	✓	✓
	Frame step (forwards and backwards)	?	?
	Macros/Scripts/Lua	✓	✗
	Movie recording/playback	✓	?
	Rewind	✓	✓
	Save states	✓	✓
Misc.	Debug features	✓	~^{[lower-alpha 7]}
	File browser Lets the user look at the ROM's internal files.	✓	✗
	Free Look Free Look is a enhancement feature that allows manipulation of the in-game camera.	PlayStation did not have hardware support for a Z-buffer or floating-point operations. However, the system used various techniques to giving the appearance of depth. You can use cheat menu for certain games to use Free Look.^[3]Also you can use dedicated tools like Spyro Scope or DuckStation 3D Screenshot build.
	FreeSurround Converts stereo sound to surround sound.	✓	?
	Netplay Shouldn't be confused with PlayStation Link, see Hardware features and peripherals for more information.	~^{[lower-alpha 8]}	~^{[lower-alpha 7]}
	PSF player Direct loading of Portable Sound Format (psf) files.	✓	?
	RetroAchievements	✓	~^{[lower-alpha 4]}
	Rich Presence (RPC) Allows the emulator to share real-time game session details (e.g., current game title, level, boss, playtime, or custom status) with external applications. This enables features such as displaying what you're playing on your profile, inviting friends to spectate, or triggering join-in-progress functionality where supported.	✓	?
	Screen translator Using optical character recognition (OCR) and other techniques, this feature can provide live translation of in-game text, text-to-speech for visually impaired users, and more — either on demand or automatically.	You can use RetroArch's AI Service or the standalone offline bquenin's Interpreter.

↑ ^1.00 ^1.01 ^1.02 ^1.03 ^1.04 ^1.05 ^1.06 ^1.07 ^1.08 ^1.09 Standalone mednafen do not support these features while Beetle libretro core does. Keep in mind that graphics enhancements exclusive to Beetle HW core.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Both DuckStation and beetle-psx-hw-libretro (mednafen_psx_hw_libretro) support this feature but still experimental and incompatible with each others implementation. Stenzek closed "texture-replacement" pull request on Apr 9, 2024. In July 2024, Stenzek decided to make another attempt and created a new pull request for implementing texture-replacement enhancement to DuckStation emulator. Note that the texture replacement system is not going to be compatible with all games.
↑ Colour debanding was added on January 19, 2024, then removed when Duckstation was re-licenced to CC-BY-ND 4.0 on September 1, 2024.
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 Only available on libretro cores. RetroAchievement support on Libretro PSX cores.
↑ Thanks to reshade .fx implementation it's possible to use post-rendering AA such as FXAA.
↑ Has glsl and built-in ReShade .fx shader chain support.
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 Libretro version do not support netplay while standalone mednafen version does. Also standalone version has more advanced debugging features.
↑ There is a Duckstation fork for GGPO implementation and also Pull request for rollback netplay implementation.

Parallel/Precision Geometry Transform Pipeline

PGXP (Parallel/Precision Geometry Transform Pipeline) is an enhancement for PlayStation emulation that produces high precision fully 3D geometry data that was not available on the original console hardware.

Features

High Precision Vertex Data (more stable geometry)
Reduced Triangle Culling (more detailed models)
Perspective Correct Texture Mapping (reduced texture distortion)

First, it introduces subpixel precision to eliminate the wobbling polygon issues. Second, it adds perspective correct texturing to stop the ‘texture warping/dancing’ issues.

For mednafen, PGXP only available to libretro's "beetle-psx-hw-libretro" (mednafen_psx_hw_libretro) core but comes with significant issues.
Recommended to use DuckStation for PGXP; otherwise use the mednafen standalone or Beetle SW (mednafen_psx_libretro).
For PCSX-Reloaded, PGXP only available with PGXP build.

Hardware features and peripherals

Please only include recommended emulators in this table. Do not bump or spam GitHub threads, issues, or feature request pages.
Name				DuckStation	Mednafen	XEBRA
Hardware features	CD player			✓	?	?
Hardware features	System BIOS			✓	✓	?
Peripherals	Bandai Robot Model Kits			✗	✗	✗
	Controllers	Analog Joystick		✓	✓	?
		Cockpit Wheel		?	?	?
		Dance Dance Revolution dance mat		✗	✓	?
		Densha de Go! controller		✓*	✗	?
		Dual Analog Controller / DualShock		✓^{[lower-alpha 1]}	✓	?
		Fishing controller Different fishing rods have different fishing game compatibility.	Agetec fishing rod (SLUS-00063)	✗	✗	?
			ASCII fishing rod (SLPH-00100 + PS2 version with new mode switch)	✗	✗	?
			Bandai fishing rod (BANC-0001)	✗	✗	?
			Hori fishing rod (HPS-97/HPS-98)	✗	✗	?
		Jogcon		✓	✗	?
		Light gun	GunCon Namco's light gun; NPC-103.	✓*	✓*	?
		Light gun	Konami Justifier	✓^{[lower-alpha 2]}	✓	?
		Mouse		✓*	✓*	?
		Musical game controller	Beatmania controller 2 different versions: SLEH-00021/ASCII Beatmania Junk and Konami Beatmania IIDX	✗	✗	?
			Guitar V-Pick	✗	✗	?
			Guitar Freak controller	?	?	?
			Maestro Music baton	✗	✗	?
			Martial Beat controller	✗	✗	?
			Paca Paca Passion Rhythm Pad	✗	✗	?
			Pop'n Music controller	✓*	✓	?
			Tambourine controller 2 different versions: Sammy Shakkato Tambourine and Sega/ASCII Minimoni Shakatto Tambourine	✗	✗	?
		Namco arcade stick		✗	✗	?
		NeGcon Namco's unconventional twisty racing-game-oriented gamepad; NPC-101.		✓*	✓*	?
		Wai Wai Jansou		✗	✗	✗
		Wai Wai Trump		✗	✗	✗
	Link Cable			✗	✗	✗
	Multitap			✓*	✓*	?
	Online	i-mode adapter		✗	✗	✗
	Online	Modem The Online Connection CD is known to have been developed by Lightspan and Sony. Used in the Lightspan educational programs, the disc, in combo with PS1, would have offered low-income families who could not afford PCs the chance to have online functionality in the home. In the most basic uses, this would include accessing their school's Lightspan.com page for homework assignments and other data. It was trialed in 4 US schools for learning support and came bundled with a special modem with a 25-pin serial port. See testing here.		✗	✗	✗
	PocketStation			✗	✗	✓^{[lower-alpha 3]}
	Unlicensed (Parallel port)	Datel Memory Drive		✗	✗	?
		DexDrive		~^{[lower-alpha 4]}	✗	✗
		GameShark		✗	✗	?
		Xplorer/Xploder cartridge		✓	✗	?
Misc.	Development kits			✓	?	?
	Dolby Surround			✗^{[lower-alpha 5]}	?	?
	Power light			✗	✗	✗
	Pressure-sensitive inputs			?	?	?
	Switch between "Fat" PS1 "old" GPU, PS1 "new" GPU and PS One GPU There are different revisions of "fat" PS1 CPUs, the former being the rarer earlier 160-pin GPU with VRAM and the latter being the more common 208-pin GPU with SGRAM. Even though the former GPU suffers from banding issues and sometimes lagging (e.g. during FF VIII summons), in some rare instances it's the preferable choice, e.g. in Jet Moto 3 with a FMV glitch only present with the newer GPU. Also see This. This is why there're 2 different PS1 debugging kits, Blue and Green, they're for these different graphic chips. The PS One GPU (also used by Namco System 10 arcade games) is yet another revision, and on a chipset considerably faster at the same clock speed.			~^{[lower-alpha 6]}	?	?

↑ When using a DualSense, the light bar or mute LED can be either used to emulate the Analog LED.
↑ You can use nixxou's DuckStation LightGun Edition fork.
↑ Possible with PK201. XEBRA is the first PlayStation emulator to include compatibility with PocketStation. See XEBRA#Emulating PocketStation or PK201#Usage.
↑ There is no emulation for DexDrive but these emulators have built-in memory card manager anyway.
↑ Internal software upmixing is not implemented due to latency and quality concerns (per lead dev Stenzek). The encoded Dolby signal can still be decoded via external hardware/DSP.
↑ DuckStation supports "Fat" PS1 SCPH-1002, SCPG-5502 GPUs, but it's unknown whether it supports PS One GPU or not. Please edit accordingly if you know about its support or lack thereof.

PlayStation Link

List of games compatible with the PlayStation Link Cable

The PlayStation Link Cable (SCPH-1040) is a peripheral cable for the PlayStation console. Utilizing the serial I/O port found on the back of most PlayStation models, it allows for two consoles to be connected in order to play compatible multiplayer games on separate consoles.

Densha De Go! controller

Also available for the Nintendo 64, Densha De Go! is a Japan-only train simulator released by Taito that is compatible with an optional special controller.^[4] No emulator is known to support it.

Datel Memory Drive

Datel Memory Drive is a rare floppy disk drive which plugged into the PS1 memory card slot and let owners store game saves on cheap and plentiful 3.5-inch floppy disks without fear of running out of space on their memory cards.

Bandai Robot Model Kits

A series of customisable toys-to-life robot figurines built of plastic pieces that came with ZXE-D: Legend of Plasmatlite. Players could build a real-world model of the robot they wanted to use with the included plastic pieces in the game set. A special interface that plugged into the PS1’s twin memory card slots recognized the different body parts and represented your robot model on the screen. See an unboxing video. It may sound similar to Skylanders, Disney Infinity, or Nintendo’s Amiibo toys, but this Japanese original preceded those modern brands by at least 15 years while still allowing far more creative flexibility. No emulator currently supports the feature.

CD player

PlayStation CD player supports Audio CD and PlayStation format CD-ROM. However there is only one PlayStation model that can play VCDs, and that is the PlayStation SCPH-5903, released in Asia only, see here and here. They're hard to find and expensive. Also there is a third-party peripheral called Gamars Movie Card (similar to Dreammovie for Sega Dreamcast) gives you the ability to play Video CDs (VCD) through your PlayStation and it is compatible with all types of PlayStations (PAL and NTSC), this third-party peripheral is very user-friendly as it works by just attaching the unit to the back of the PlayStation. A number of PAL region games use LibCrypt protection, requiring additional CD subchannel information to run properly.

Duckstation has Audio CD and CD-ROM support so you can boot directly your physical discs but there is no VCD support at the moment. Also there is no capability for handling the LibCrypt protection even if you're using one of the capable image format that supported by the emulator, so you need .SBI files alongside the disc image for those PAL games. CDRWin BIN/CUE and MDF/MDS supported. Recently, CloneCD image support added.
Swanstation libretro core has issues with CD-ROM support at the moment.
PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 (backwards compatibility) have support for Audio CD and PlayStation format CD-ROM discs but no support for Video CD/VCDs.

See this dedicated page for more information about home media playback support for emulation softwares.

See Ripping games.

See "Emulation of the Disc Drive" section in Copy protection page.

Arcade variants

There were numerous PlayStation-based arcade systems. Most PlayStation-based arcade games extended the system in different ways. They often had more RAM, ran at higher clock speeds, had additional sound hardware, added additional I/O, and/or used ROM or Flash media rather than CDs. The Konami Twinkle games have a separate DVD player controlled via a serial link to provide background video/audio.^[5]

Namco System 10, Namco System 11 and Namco System 12

Namco System 11/12 is an arcade system based on Sony Playstation hardware, with surface-mounted ROM chips as storage rather than CD-ROM.

MAME, including the BizHawk core variation, and ZiNc provides support for this variation.

 The first batch of Namco System 10 games have been emulated with 0.254 version.
 Two quiz games (Derby Quiz My Dream Horse, and Kaiun Quiz) running on Namco’s System 12 are now working with 0.258 version.

Capcom ZN-1 and Capcom ZN-2

Capcom ZN-1/2 is an arcade system based on Sony Playstation hardware, with ROM chips as storage rather than CD-ROM and an extra Capcom QSound chip for audio.

MAME, including the BizHawk core variation, and ZiNc provides support for this variation.

Konami Twinkle

Konami Twinkle is an arcade system based on the Sony PlayStation hardware. It was designed for the Beatmania IIDX series games. It has an HDD for storing audio and a DVD player for full-motion video.

MAME, including the BizHawk core variation, supports this variation, but the full-motion video won't be shown in the game because the DVD video decoder is yet to be emulated. However, A fork of MAME reads mpg videos as background animations from iidx_videos folder under the root folder of MAME (like how LaserDisc game emulators work), which would solve the issue of lacking full-motion video at the sacrifice of orthodox emulation.