lower video resolution to improve performance?

Simrose

pi4 2gb, pi4 8gb
argon psu
argon one case
retropie latest upto date
Multiple modern tv 1080p and 2160p

I have currently default settings with retropie except I disabled 4k in the config.txt as recommended.

I've read on some posts in this forum and from the web that lowering to 720p resolution might help improve overall emulation performance.

I have tested with run command while starting a game but settings changed here seem to effect differently depending on the display I use. As sometimes I plug my pi into tv in other rooms or take it with me on travels.

I also notice in options - configuration editor you can change the rendering resolution.

From reading the retropie documents under section Speed Issues ive enabled game mode on my tv.

From the offical documents
TV

Ensure you're using your TV's native resolution to prevent any overhead due to upscaling. Most modern HD TVs can display at 1080p (1920x1080) and 720p (1280x720) without issue.

Resolution

Try to decrease the Render Resolution or Framebuffer Resolution in the runcommand menu, displayed just before a game starts.

Decreasing the screen size the emulator has to calculate can lead to an overall speed increase.

I'm not having a specific emulator performance issue or game I am just wanting to gain the understanding of what is the recommended overall setting to use for fastest overall performance with my setup.

Thanks
Sim

Darksavior

I don't believe you can disable 4k so the pi will boot to 4k30 in emulationstation on a 4k TV. You can then set the resolution for each emulator from the run command launch menu. It's better to set the pi to 1080p so you don't need to do that to every emulator.

The only time lower resolutions will improve speed are the ones the pi4 can struggle with like n64 and dreamcast. You can experiment using different lower resolutions with those.

You can also increase the internal resolution in a few emulators but the options will be in the emulator core options which you access while the game is running (hotkey + X is the default). Save the settings and reload the game.

windg

I have set resolution to 720p for my systems. I have better performance with demanding cores and overall, lower temperatures.

dankcushions

@Simrose said in lower video resolution to improve performance?:

I have currently default settings with retropie except I disabled 4k in the config.txt as recommended.

how did you do this, specifically? posting your config.txt would help.

@Simrose said in lower video resolution to improve performance?:

I've read on some posts in this forum and from the web that lowering to 720p resolution might help improve overall emulation performance.

i disagree with the premise. 1080p should be fine for pi4 at default settings. reducing the resolution further can give ugly scaling artefacts, especially on a larger TV.

perhaps it's better to state the specific speed issue you're having, and we can diagnose it.