Scaling pixel art tiles on modern consoles/computers with Morph4K
Overview
The Morph 4k has the ability to "pre-scale" video content by discarding some lines from the original image. Discarding lines results in a loss of resolution, while this may seem counter-intuitive it can be useful where pre-scaled pixel art assets are used on modern consoles or computers. Using the pre-scale modes can "fix" the original scaling applied and can result in a much better upscale with better looking scanlines and mask effects.
Basic prescaling
You can try prescaling on any pixel art games, the easiest way to try it out is to set your console/computer to 480p or 720p output, load your pixel art game and set the vertical pre scale (video->Scaler->Vert. Prescale:) to 3 (For 720p input) or 2 (for 480p input). Once done, apply scanlines and/or masks to taste. This will work on many titles, though many more will require further fine tuning or experimentation.
Remember that just because a title has a pixel art style of graphics, does not mean that it is necessarily using true 240p base assets. Many pixel art style games merely mimic this art style and applying a pre-scale may make parts of the image or screen text illegible, rendering the game unplayable.
Recommended Settings
The table below includes some recommended settings for some popular indie titles and retro remakes that you can try with your Morph4K. Users are encouraged to add games to the table as they test them.
The table is set out as follows:-
- Game - Title of the game being tested
- Platform - The computer system or games console used
- Native Res - The native resolution of the game, if known
- System Res - The resolution the computer/console was outputting when the test was done
- Settings - Settings for vertical and horizontal prescalers on the Morph
- Comments - Additional comments, instructions or observations
| Game |
Platform | Native Res |
System Res | Settings | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andro Dunos 2 | Steam | 320x240 | 720p | Prescale H /1 or /3 V /3 | True 240p assets, scales great |
| Animal Well | Steam | 320x180 | 720p | Prescale H /2 or /4 V /4 | For a sharper image, use a horizontal prescale of 2 rather than 4 |
| Celeste | Steam | 320x180 | 720p | Prescale H /1 V /3 | |
| Gunlord | Switch | 320x240 | 720p | Prescale H /1 V /3 | In game settings – Scale X 111%, Full vertical scale off. Scanlines off. On Morph, set aspect ratio to 4:3. |
| Hotline Miami | Steam | ? | 720p | Prescale H /2 or /3 V /3 | Horiz prescale 2 or 3 to taste, 3 gives the game a very NES aesthetic |
| Huntdown | Steam | 320x240 | 720p | Prescale H /1 V /3 | Turn off the games own CRT filters etc |
| Jamestown | Steam | 512x320 | 720p | Prescale H /1 V /2 | Set pixel perfect mode in game. v.prescale 3 will shimmer while scrolling |
| Metagal | Steam | 320x240 | 720p | Prescale H /1 V /3 | |
| Panorama Cotton | PS4 | 320x240 | 720p | Prescale H /1 V /3 | Ingame set Display: 4:3 DAR (perfect seems anything but), all in game shaders off. |
| Perfect Tides | Steam | ? | 720p | Prescale H /1 V /2 | V.Prescale higher than 2 will break text. May also need to zoom |
| Prinny – Can I Really Be the Hero? | Switch | 480x270 | 720p | Prescale H /1 V /3 | Originally a PSP game so assets designed for low res LCD |
| Rising Dusk | Steam | ? | 720p | Prescale H /1 V /4 | Text may be hard to read |
| Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn | Steam | 480x270 | 1080p | Prescale H /4 V /4 | Turn off in-game scanlines. Subtitles and button prompts do not adhere to pixel grid and maybe hard to read. |
| Sonic Mania | Steam | 424x240 | 720p | Prescale H /1 V /3 | In game video->Screen Filter None, Window Size 1x |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Shredders Revenge | Switch | 480x270 | 1080p | Prescale H /4 V /4 | |
| Towerfall Ascension | Steam | 320x240 |
720p | Prescale H /1 V /3 | True 240p base assets, scales great |
| UFO 50 | Steam | 384x216 | 1080p | Prescale H /5 V /5 | Horizontal prescale 1 for sharper image, turn off all in-game filters |
| VVVVVV | Windows | 320x240 |
720p | Prescale H /1 V /3 | True 240p base assets, scales great |
| Warblade | Windows | 800x600 |
800x600 | Prescale H /1 V /1 | Games is fixed 800x600, V prescale of 2 looks OK in game but makes text illegible. |
| Wild Guns Reloaded | Steam | ? | 1080p | Prescale H /1 V /4 | In game settings – Aspect ratio 100%, Aspect Scale 100%, Scanlines 0 |
| Wizard of Legend | Steam | ? | 720p | Prescale H /1 V /1 | Prescale is possible but makes smaller text impossible to read |
| Wizball (Retrospec remake) | Windows | 640x480 | 640x480 | Prescale H /1 V /2 | Game is forced 640x480 |
| Xeno Crisis | Steam | 320x240 | 720p | Prescale H /1 V /3 | True 240p base assets, scales great |
