Resolution

The resolution is the size of an image. Usually, resolution is denoted by width x height (in pixels). For example, a Mega Drive screenshot has a resolution of 320x224 pixels in NTSC regions, however, the resolution in PAL regions is 320×240. It is noted that not many games take advantage of the extra resolution, leading to borders around the top and bottom of the screen.

Display Resolution

Display resolution refers to the pixels displayed on screen.

Display resolutions used by various Sega consoles and arcade systems:

• 256×192 - 49,152 pixels
• 256×224 - 57,344 pixels
• 256×240 - 61,440 pixels
• 320×224 - 71,680 pixels
• 320×240 - 76,800 pixels
• 320×448 - 143,360 pixels
• 320×480 - 153,600 pixels
• 640×448 - 286,720 pixels
• 640×480 - 307,200 pixels
• 720×480 - 345,600 pixels
• 800×600 - 480,000 pixels
• 800×608 - 486,400 pixels
• 1280×480 - 614,400 pixels
• 1440×480 - 691,200 pixels
• 1280×720 - 921,600 pixels
• 1600×600 - 960,000 pixels
• 1600×608 - 972,800 pixels
• 1024×1024 - 1.048576 MPixels
• 1920×1080 - 2.048576 MPixels
• 2048×1024 - 2.097152 MPixels
• 1968×1080 - 2.12544 MPixels
• 2048×2048 - 4.194304 MPixels

Overscan

Overscan is the situation in which not all of a televised image is present on a viewing screen. This was typical of CRT televisions. In order to compensate for this, older game consoles and arcade systems usually rendered games at an overscan resolution that was higher than the display resolution.