diff --git a/src/emu/emuopts.c b/src/emu/emuopts.c
index 6da6d5f7335..8495b4e457f 100644
--- a/src/emu/emuopts.c
+++ b/src/emu/emuopts.c
@@ -105,6 +105,8 @@ const options_entry emu_options::s_option_entries[] =
 	{ OPTION_GAMMA "(0.1-3.0)",                          "1.0",       OPTION_FLOAT,      "default game screen gamma correction" },
 	{ OPTION_PAUSE_BRIGHTNESS "(0.0-1.0)",               "0.65",      OPTION_FLOAT,      "amount to scale the screen brightness when paused" },
 	{ OPTION_EFFECT,                                     "none",      OPTION_STRING,     "name of a PNG file to use for visual effects, or 'none'" },
+	{ OPTION_MINIMUM_WIDTH,                              "0",         OPTION_INTEGER,    "minimum screen width" },
+	{ OPTION_MINIMUM_HEIGHT,                             "0",         OPTION_INTEGER,    "minimum screen height" },
 
 	// vector options
 	{ NULL,                                              NULL,        OPTION_HEADER,     "CORE VECTOR OPTIONS" },
diff --git a/src/emu/emuopts.h b/src/emu/emuopts.h
index 73c55cddbae..f7560722413 100644
--- a/src/emu/emuopts.h
+++ b/src/emu/emuopts.h
@@ -113,6 +113,8 @@ enum
 #define OPTION_GAMMA                "gamma"
 #define OPTION_PAUSE_BRIGHTNESS     "pause_brightness"
 #define OPTION_EFFECT               "effect"
+#define OPTION_MINIMUM_WIDTH        "minimum_width"
+#define OPTION_MINIMUM_HEIGHT       "minimum_height"
 
 // core vector options
 #define OPTION_ANTIALIAS            "antialias"
@@ -279,6 +281,8 @@ public:
 	float gamma() const { return float_value(OPTION_GAMMA); }
 	float pause_brightness() const { return float_value(OPTION_PAUSE_BRIGHTNESS); }
 	const char *effect() const { return value(OPTION_EFFECT); }
+	int minimum_width() const { return int_value(OPTION_MINIMUM_WIDTH); }
+	int minimum_height() const { return int_value(OPTION_MINIMUM_HEIGHT); }
 
 	// core vector options
 	bool antialias() const { return bool_value(OPTION_ANTIALIAS); }
diff --git a/src/emu/render.c b/src/emu/render.c
index 91f87f0c6e7..87b108a4c1c 100644
--- a/src/emu/render.c
+++ b/src/emu/render.c
@@ -1232,10 +1232,22 @@ void render_target::compute_minimum_size(INT32 &minwidth, INT32 &minheight)
 		for (layout_view::item *curitem = m_curview->first_item(layer); curitem != NULL; curitem = curitem->next())
 			if (curitem->screen() != NULL)
 			{
-				// use a hard-coded default visible area for vector screens
 				screen_device *screen = curitem->screen();
-				const rectangle vectorvis(0, 639, 0, 479);
-				const rectangle &visarea = (screen->screen_type() == SCREEN_TYPE_VECTOR) ? vectorvis : screen->visible_area();
+
+				// get visible area
+				rectangle visarea = (screen->screen_type() == SCREEN_TYPE_VECTOR)
+					? rectangle(0, 639, 0, 479)	// use a hard-coded default visible area for vector screens
+					: screen->visible_area();
+
+				// is our visible area too small?  if so, we need to bump up the size
+				float minimum_width = m_manager.machine().options().minimum_width();
+				float minimum_height = m_manager.machine().options().minimum_height();
+				INT32 factor = (INT32) ceil(MAX(minimum_width / visarea.width(), minimum_height / visarea.height()));
+				factor = MAX(factor, 1);
+				visarea.min_x *= factor;
+				visarea.min_y *= factor;
+				visarea.max_x *= factor;
+				visarea.max_y *= factor;
 
 				// apply target orientation to the bounds
 				render_bounds bounds = curitem->bounds();