diff --git a/doc/man/man1/ncls.1.md b/doc/man/man1/ncls.1.md
index fdfd22c6e..f238ecf44 100644
--- a/doc/man/man1/ncls.1.md
+++ b/doc/man/man1/ncls.1.md
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ ncls - List paths with rendering of multimedia
 **-a**|**--align** ***type***: Align images on **left**, **center**, or **right**.
 
 **-b**|**--blitter** ***blitter***: Blitter, one of **ascii**, **half**,
-**quad**, **sex**, **braille**, or **pixel**. The default is ***pixel***.
+**quad**, **sex**, **braille**, or **pixel**. The default is **pixel**.
 If the chosen blitter is unavailable, **ncls** will degrade (see
 **notcurses_visual(3)**).
 
@@ -42,6 +42,9 @@ If the chosen blitter is unavailable, **ncls** will degrade (see
 paths: Run on the specified paths. If none are supplied, run on the current
 directory.
 
+If no scaling is specified, **hires** will be used with the **pixel** blitter,
+and **scalehi** will be used otherwise.
+
 # NOTES
 
 Optimal display requires a terminal advertising the **rgb** terminfo(5)
diff --git a/src/ls/main.cpp b/src/ls/main.cpp
index 2e376a20f..a541e833f 100644
--- a/src/ls/main.cpp
+++ b/src/ls/main.cpp
@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ int main(int argc, char* const * argv){
   bool recursedirs = false;
   bool longlisting = false;
   bool dereflinks = false;
+  bool specified_scaling = false;
   ncpp::NCAlign alignment = ncpp::NCAlign::Right;
   ncblitter_e blitter = NCBLIT_PIXEL;
   ncscale_e scale = NCSCALE_SCALE_HIRES;
@@ -227,6 +228,7 @@ int main(int argc, char* const * argv){
                     << optarg << ")" << std::endl;
           usage(std::cerr, argv[0], EXIT_FAILURE);
         }
+        specified_scaling = true;
         break;
       case 'd':
         directories = true;
@@ -266,6 +268,11 @@ int main(int argc, char* const * argv){
     blitter,
     scale,
   };
+  if(blitter == NCBLIT_PIXEL && !specified_scaling){
+    if(ctx.nc.check_pixel_support() > 0){
+      ctx.scaling = NCSCALE_NONE_HIRES;
+    }
+  }
   ctx.nc.cursor_disable();
   keep_working = true;
   for(auto s = 0u ; s < procs ; ++s){