A method is proposed which enables high-resolution raster images to be represented on lower-resolution displays. The method according to the invention selects support points in lines and columns of the original image, which have a smallest possible variation of their distances and approximate the set scaling at least in ranges. Consequently, rational scaling ratios can also be achieved in an advantageous manner. In order to represent fine details of the original image in the scaled image as well, the adjacent pixels of the support points are also incorporated into the calculation of the pixels that are output. Furthermore, a circuit for scaling a raster image in real time is proposed. Moreover, a film scanner having a scaling device in accordance with the method according to the invention is proposed.