One thing that we’ve had to deal with while using retro handhelds is aspect ratio’s and resolutions of different systems. What were the original ratio’s? If I upscale, how much do I need to get to 1080p? What about 4K? What exactly is 8x resolution, what’s that resolution, the app doesn’t tell me?
Let’s answer all of that and more here.
The numbers under 720p, 1080p, 1440p, and 2160p are the upscale needed in the emulator to pass those resolutions. Everything is rounded up to the nearest number to avoid partial upscales.
System | Native Aspect Ratio | Native Resolution | 720p | 1080p | 1440p | 2160p (4K) |
Atari 5200 | 4:3 | 320×240 | 3x | 5x | 6x | 9x |
Atari Lynx | 1:57:1 | 160×102 | 8x | 11x | 15x | 22x |
ColecoVision | 4:3 | 256×192 | 4x | 6x | 8x | 12x |
MSX | 3:2 | 256×192 | 4x | 6x | 8x | 12x |
MSX2 | 3:2 | 256×192 | 4x | 6x | 8x | 12x |
Neo Geo | 10:7 | 320×224 | 4x | 5x | 7x | 10x |
Neo Geo Pocket/Pocket Color | 20:19 | 160×152 | 5x | 8x | 10x | 15x |
Nintendo 3DS | 15:9 (top), 4:3 (bottom) | 800×240 (top), 320×240 (bottom) | 3x | 5x | 6x | 9x |
Nintendo 64 | 4:3 | 320×240 | 3x | 5x | 6x | 9x |
Nintendo DS | 3:2 (both) | 256×192 (both) | 4x | 6x | 8x | 12x |
Nintendo Entertainment System | 4:3, 8:7 | 256×240 | 3x | 5x | 6x | 9x |
Nintendo Game Boy/Game Boy Color | 10:9 | 160×144 | 5x | 8x | 10x | 15x |
Nintendo Game Boy Advance | 3:2 | 240×160 | 5x | 7x | 9x | 14x |
Nintendo GameCube | 4:3 | 640×480 | 2x | 3x | 3x | 5x |
Nintendo Switch | 16:9 | 1280×720 (handheld), 1920×1080 (docked) | 1x | 2x | 2x | 3x |
Nintendo Wii | 4:3 (all), 16:9 (some) | 640×480 | 2x | 3x | 3x | 5x |
Sega Dreamcast | 4:3 | 640×480 | 2x | 3x | 3x | 5x |
Sega Genesis | 4:3 | 320×240 | 3x | 5x | 6x | 9x |
Sega Master System | 4:3 | 256×192 | ||||
Sega Saturn | 4:3 | 320×240 | 3x | 5x | 6x | 9x |
Sony PlayStation | 4:3 | 320×240 | 3x | 5x | 6x | 9x |
Sony PlayStation 2 | 4:3 (all), 16:9 (some) | 640×480 | 2x | 3x | 3x | 5x |
Sony PlayStation Portable | 16:9 | 480×272 | 3x | 4x | 6x | 8x |
Sony PlayStation Vita | 16:9 | 960×544 | 2x | 2x | 3x | 4x |
Super Nintendo Entertainment System | 4:3, 8:7 | 256×224 | 4x | 5x | 7x | 10x |