Pixel scaling refers to the process of scaling pixels to fit a higher resolution image. Some form of pixel scaling is present in almost all of the content you stream daily, especially if you're using a 1440p, 4K, or other high-resolution monitor.
What makes pixel scaling bad? That's not necessarily a bad thing – if no pixel scaling were present on modern screens, almost all content would look shrunken!
Sometimes, however, pixel scaling can be a bad thing, especially on modern screens showing older content. Let's talk about why.
Pixel scaling by itself does not make content look bad – which, however, is uneven pixel scaling. Uneven pixel scaling is common when viewing older content on newer screens due to the low resolution not matching the modern high fidelity display. Beyond that, you also run into the problem that even with proper pixel scaling, a low resolution image will simply look less polished than a high resolution image.
Now, the main reason pixel scaling is a problem is that nowadays all content needs to be upscaled to native resolution before playing on screen. This is because pixels are physical objects in modern displays, all of which must be turned on for a full-screen image to display. If the image does not meet or exceed native resolution, or falls into quarter resolution, uneven pixel scaling is inevitable.
In addition to better handling low resolution content, CRT displays also tend to be much better at removing input latency than modern displays, especially modern TVs. This is why CRTs remain a favorite in the fighting game scene, as many games require perfect inputs for certain actions. A modern high refresh rate monitor can also be quite good at this.
What can you do to fix this problem if you encounter it?
It depends on your use case and the problem you are having.
If you're dealing with standard definition content from older DVDs, game consoles, or VHS, you're in a tough spot. Besides the obvious competitor of going back to a TV or CRT monitor for these devices, you could also look into something like mCable, which will add additional image processing and anti-aliasing to bloat the image. For older game consoles, emulating at a higher resolution in something like RetroArch can also be a way to improve the quality of those games on modern screens.
If you're trying to play 2D games on a PC and notice that they look blurrier than they should, chances are you need to enable something called integer scaling in your AMD graphics settings. , Nvidia or Intel. Integer scaling ensures that all pixels are scaled as close to perfect as possible, meaning you might not get a full screen effect, but you will get the experience sharpest visual.
As a last resort, you may also want to look into a "Just Scan" or similar setting on your monitor which will simply display the raw images at the intended resolution, which should look quite crisp but may not fill your screen.
If none of the measures listed help, it's time to start looking for higher resolution versions of content that suffers from poor scaling. For example, you might want to search for Blu-Ray alternatives of your favorite DVD/VHS movies if you want the best viewing experience on a modern screen.
Image credit:Jtalledo, Local Tournament, Integer Scaling Image I am
