Resolution
Resolution is the measure in which how many pixels are displayed on the screen.
For emulation of 2D systems, the resolution can only be upscaled, making the pixels more apparent. For emulation of 5th generation consoles and newer, the internal resolution can be increased to make the game look sharper.
- Color encoding
On systems connected with a composite, s-video or rf cable the color of the video signal is encoded using either NTSC or PAL. While NTSC and PAL has become synonymous with 60 and 50hz, the color encoding is independent of refresh rate, with the Dreamcast popularising "PAL-60" modes in PAL regions. Note that a RGB or component video signal is not inherently NTSC or PAL coded. When playing on an emulator, NTSC filters can be used to produce an image similar to playing on a TV.
SECAM is a third color standard but due to the many of countries that used it were Second World and Third World few consoles would use that format, and consoles and home computers released in France would often use RGB SCART cables instead. See this Wikipedia article for a list of current and former SECAM countries
- Colorspaces
The overwhelming majority of consoles uses the RGB colorspace, storing colors as color triplets, often resulting in colordepths powers of 8 (64, 512, 4096, 32768 and so on). A few systems, such as those by Atari as well as the NES, instead used a Color/Luminance scheme, with 4 bits determining the hue, utilising a property of NTSC/PAL encoding by delaying the color subcarrier, with one or more values instead omitting the signal resulting in a greyscale image, with the remaining bits determining the brightness.
- Integer Scaling
- Main article: Scaling
Upscaling the resolution will only look good if you scale it by integers (2x, 3x, 4x, etc.). If you are scaling with non-integers, you can make the image look better using the Pixellate shader.
Contents
Consoles
2D Consoles
- 2D consoles generally are consoles from the 2nd to 4th generation of video game consoles, or fantasy consoles recreating the experience of them.
| System | Native Resolution (WxH) | Color depth and color space | Video display resolution | Native Refresh Rate (Hz) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHIP-8 | 64x32 (original) Extensions: 64x48, 64x64, 64x128, 128x64, 256x192[N 1] |
Monochrome (original) Extensions: 4 colours, 16 colours, 255 colours.[N 2] |
||
| Atari 2600 | 160×192[N 3] | 128 (NTSC)/104 (PAL) colors, Color/Luminance | 240p | 59.922751013551 (NTSC), 49.860759671615 (PAL) |
| Atari 7800 | 160×192,320x192,160x224,320x224[N 4] | 256 colors, Color/Luminance | 240p | 60 (NTSC), 50 (PAL)[N 5] |
| Mattel Intellivision | 160×192 | 16 colors | 240p | 60 (NTSC), 50 (PAL)[N 5] |
| NES | 256×240 | 52 colors, Color/Luminance[N 6] | 240p | 60.098813897441 (NTSC), 50.006978908189 (PAL) |
| Sega Master System | 256×192, 256×224, 256x240 (some PAL games) | 64 colors, RGB | 240p | 59.922751013551 (NTSC), 49.701460119948 (PAL) |
| NEC PC Engine | 256×224,336x224,512x224,512x240 | 512 colors, RGB | 240p | 60 (NTSC), 50 (PAL)[N 5] |
| SNES | 256×224p, 256×239p, 512×224p, 512×239p
512×448i, 512×478i |
15-bit, RGB | 240p, 480i | 60.098813897441 (NTSC), 50.006978908189 (PAL) |
| Sega Genesis | 320×224, 256×224, 320x240 (some PAL games), 256x240 (some PAL games),
320×448, 256×448, 320x480 (some PAL games), 256x480 (some PAL games) |
512 colors, RGB | 240p, 480i | 59.922751013551 (NTSC), 49.701460119948 (PAL) |
3D Consoles
- 3D consoles generally are consoles from the 5th generation and later, or fantasy consoles recreating the experience of them.
| System | Native Resolution (WxH) | Color depth and color space | Video display resolution | Native Refresh Rate (Hz) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nintendo 64 | 320x200, 320x400, 320x240, 320x480, 640×240, 640×480, 640x600[O 1] | 15-bit/21-bit, RGB[O 2] | 240p, 480i (NTSC), 576i (PAL) | 60 (NTSC), 50 (PAL)[O 3] |
| Sega Saturn | 320×224p, 320×240p, 320×256p, 352×224p, 352×240p, 352×256p, 640×224p, 640×240p, 640×256p, 704x224p, 704×240p
320×448i, 320×512i, 320×480i, 352×448i, 320×480i, 352×512i, 640×448i, 640×480i, 640×512i, 704×448i, 704×480i, 704×512i |
15-bit/24-bit, RGB | 240p, 480i (NTSC), 480p, 576i (PAL) | 60 (NTSC), 50 (PAL)[O 3] |
| PlayStation | 256×224p, 256x240p, 320x224p, 320×240p, 352x224p, 352x240p, 512x224p, 512×240p, 640x224p, 640x240p, 704x224p, 704x240p
256x448i, 256x480i, 320x448i, 320x480i, 352x448i, 352x480i, 512x448i, 512x480i, 640x448i, 640×480i, 704x448i, 704x480i 256x448p, 256x480p, 320x448p, 320x480p, 352x448p, 352x480p, 512x448p, 512x480p, 640x448p, 640×480p, 720x448p, 720x480p |
16-bit/24-bit, RGB[O 4] | 240p, 480i (NTSC), 480p, [O 5] 576i (PAL) | 59.940060138702 (NTSC), 50.00028192997 (PAL) |
| PlayStation 2 | 256x192, 256x224, 256x240, 320x192, 320x224, 300x240, 320x200, 256x384, 320x240, 320x400, 320x480, 300x480, 400x240, 400x480, 640x200, 800x250, 800x240, 512x384, 512x192, 400x500, 600x480, 640x512, 640x240, 800x500, 640x400, 640×480, 800x480, 640x960 | 24-bit, RGB | 240p, 480i (NTSC), 480p, 576i (PAL), 576p, 720p, 960i (GSM Selector), 1080i (Gran Turismo 4) | 59.94 (NTSC), 50 (PAL)[O 3] |
| Sega Dreamcast | 320x240, 640×480, 672x480, 544x608, 416x768, 384x864, 320x960 [O 6] | 24-bit, RGB | 240p, 480i (NTSC), 480p, 576i (PAL), 576p, 720p, 960p [O 7] | 60 (NTSC), 50 (PAL)[O 3], 75Hz, 120Hz [O 6] |
| GameCube and Wii | 596×448
608×456 640×480[O 8] etc |
24-bit, RGB | 240p, 480i (NTSC), 480p, 576i (PAL), 576p, [O 9] 960i, 1080i, 1152i (through Swiss) | 60 (NTSC), 50 (PAL)[O 3] |
| Xbox | 640×480, 1280x720, 1920x1080 | 24-bit, RGB | 480i (NTSC), 576i (PAL), 480p, 720p, 1080i [O 10] | 59.94 (NTSC), 50 (PAL)[O 3] |
| Xbox 360 | 640x480, 1280x720, 1920x1080[O 11] | 24-bit, RGB | 480i (NTSC), 576i (PAL), 480p, 576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p | 59.94 (NTSC), 50 (PAL)[O 3] |
| PlayStation 3 | 640x480, 1280x720, 960x1080, 1280x1080, 1440x1080, 1920x1080 | 24-bit, RGB | 480i (NTSC), 576i (PAL), 480p, 576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p | 59.94 (NTSC), 50 (PAL)[O 3] |
Portables
| System | Native Resolution (WxH) | Color depth and color space | Video display resolution | Native Refresh Rate (Hz) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Boy | 384×224 (per screen) | 4 shades of red | 224p | 50.273487773488 |
| Game Boy/Color | 160×144 | 15-bit, RGB (4 shades of grey for non-color games) | 144p | 59.727500569606 |
| Sega Game Gear | 160x144 (native GG mode), 256x192 downscaled (SMS backwards compatible mode) | 4096 colors, RGB (64 color in SMS backwards compatibility mode) | 144p | 59.922751013551 |
| WonderSwan | 224×144 | 4096 colors, RGB | 144p | 75.471698113207 |
| Game Boy Advance | 240×160 | 15-bit, RGB | 160p | 59.727500569606 |
| Pokémon Mini | 96×64 | 1-bit monochrome | ? | N/A |
| Nintendo DS | 256×192 (per screen) | 18-bit, RGB | 192p | 59.826098288081 |
| PlayStation Portable | 480×272 | 24-bit, RGB | 272p, 480i, 480p (PSP-2000 and 3000 models with video cables) | 60[P 1] |
| Nintendo 3DS | 800x240 top screen[P 2]
320x240 bottom screen |
24-bit, RGB | 240p | 60[P 1] |
Home computers
| System | Native Resolution (WxH) | Color depth and color space | Video display resolution | Native Refresh Rate (Hz) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple II | 280x192 | 6 colors (high res), 15 colors (low res), Color/Luminance [Q 1] | 240p,288p | 60 (NTSC), 50 (PAL)[Q 2] |
| Atari 8-bit | 160x192,320x192 | 128/256 colors, Color/Luminance [Q 3] | 240p,288p | 60 (NTSC), 50 (PAL)[Q 2] |
| Commodore 64 | 160x200,320x200 | 16 colors | 240p,288p | 60 (NTSC), 50 (PAL)[Q 2] |
| Sinclair ZX Spectrum | 256x192 | 15 colors, RGB | 288p | 50 (PAL)[Q 2] |
| Amstrad CPC464/664/6128 | 160x200,320x200,640x200 | 27 colors, RGB | 288p | 50 (PAL)[Q 2] |
| Amstrad 464+/6128+ | 160x200,320x200,640x200 | 4096 colors, RGB | 288p | 50 (PAL)[Q 2] |
| Apple IIGS | 320x200,640x200 | 4096 colors, RGB | 240p,288p | 60 (NTSC), 50 (PAL)[Q 2] |
| Commodore Amiga | 320x200,640x200,640x400,320x256,640x256,640x512 | 4096 colors, RGB | 240p,288p,480i,576i | 60 (NTSC), 50 (PAL)[Q 2] |
External links
Wikipedia - List of common resolutions: Analog systems
Notes
Notes (consoles)
- Notes (2D consoles)
- ↑ Sourced from here: 64x32 (Original CHIP-8), 64x48 (CHIP-8 for ETI-660) 64x64 (Two-page display for CHIP-8, Two-page display for CHIP-8X, CHIP-8 for ETI-660 with high resolution, CHIP-8 AE (ACE Extended), CHIP-BETA). 64x128 (HI-RES CHIP-8, Hi-res CHIP-8X, CHIP-8 AE (ACE Extended)), 128x64 (CHIP-VDU / CHIP-8 for the ACE VDU, CHIP-10, CHIP-8 AE (ACE Extended), S-CHIP) 256x192 (Megachip)
- ↑ 1-bit monochrome (original), 2-bit 4 colors (XO-CHIP), 4-bit 16 colors (HYPERCHIP-64) 8-bit 255 colors (Megachip).
- ↑ This is a rough figure given for simplicity's sake. In reality, the Atari 2600 doesn't really output pixels, and it has no limits on the number of lines it can display. However, it did have a hard limit on the number of horizontal color clocks for drawing the picture (160), and most games only output 192 lines, hence the commonly given resolution of 160x192.
- ↑ As with the Atari 2600, the vertical resolution is determined by the game, typically between 192 and 224
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Preliminary or approximate value.
- ↑ The NES has a 6-bit palette, but not all of the 64 possible entries maps to unique colors.
- Notes (3D consoles)
- ↑ While N64 games ran at various resolutions internally, in practice the hardware's VI component always doubled the scale horizontally, and output in either 640x240p or 640x480i, though there is letterboxing at times.
- ↑ The N64 can use either either 18-bit (15 bits of RGB and 3 bits of alpha) or 32-bit framebuffer, however the DAC is only capable of outputting 21-bit RGB
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Preliminary or approximate value.
- ↑ The PSX can use a 16-bit or 24-bit framebuffer, however most of the GPU's commands can only render onto a 16-bit framebuffer
- ↑ The PSX does support 480p mode if you use an RGB SCART (or VGA) cable, see [1]
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 These are from the DreamHAL documentation, as a rule 1. the Dreamcast has a fixed pixel clock, adding more vertical lines or increasing the refresh rate will reduce the horizontal resolution, 2. if PowerVR is to be used, the resolution needs to be a multiple of 32 due to tiling
- ↑ A variety of display moves are possible for homebrew programs, see [2]
- ↑ Similar to N64, games ran at various resolutions internally[3], though output is usually in 480p.
- ↑ https://wiibrew.org/wiki/Video_output
- ↑ 480p and higher resolutions only available on NTSC and modified Xboxes
- ↑ The Xbox 360's GPU is very flexible when it comes to the resolutions it can use, scaling it on the fly without needing a separate framebuffer
- Notes (Portable consoles)
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Preliminary or approximate value.
- ↑ This is the "true" resolution of the top screen and what games will be rendered at in full 3d mode, however, due to said 3d effect the horizontal resolution is effectively halved. Each eye will only see 400x240 and games run in 2d mode will (normally) be rendered at 400x240 [4].
Notes (computers)
- ↑ The original Apple II doesn't actually implement color in hardware, instead utilising a quirk of how NTSC displays video to generate color, as the pixel clock is the same as the NTSC subcarrier. As a consequence, PAL Apple IIs would display in black and white unless a separate PAL color card was added
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Preliminary or approximate value.
- ↑ The early Atari 400/800 models used the CTIA chip which supports 128 colors, models manufactured after 1981 used the updated GTIA chip which increases this to 256
