diff --git a/lib/steami_screen/README.md b/lib/steami_screen/README.md
index da61d15..28280a5 100644
--- a/lib/steami_screen/README.md
+++ b/lib/steami_screen/README.md
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ screen.text("Big", at="CENTER", scale=2)
 
 Cardinal positions: `"N"`, `"NE"`, `"E"`, `"SE"`, `"S"`, `"SW"`, `"W"`, `"NW"`, `"CENTER"`.
 
-Note: `scale=2` produces a bold effect (text drawn with 1px offset), not a true pixel-scale zoom. Backends can provide `draw_scaled_text()` for true scaling.
+Note: `scale` > 1 produces a true pixel-scale zoom on SSD1327 displays via pixel-by-pixel framebuf rendering. Other backends can implement `draw_scaled_text()` for native scaling support. Backends without it fall back to a bold offset effect.
 
 ---
 
diff --git a/lib/steami_screen/steami_screen/ssd1327.py b/lib/steami_screen/steami_screen/ssd1327.py
index c650a71..64b2e19 100644
--- a/lib/steami_screen/steami_screen/ssd1327.py
+++ b/lib/steami_screen/steami_screen/ssd1327.py
@@ -18,8 +18,13 @@ class SSD1327Display:
 
     def __init__(self, raw):
         self._raw = raw
-        self.width = getattr(raw, 'width', 128)
-        self.height = getattr(raw, 'height', 128)
+        self.width = getattr(raw, "width", 128)
+        self.height = getattr(raw, "height", 128)
+        # Resolve fill_rect dispatch once at init (avoids repeated hasattr)
+        if hasattr(raw, "fill_rect"):
+            self._fill_rect_raw = raw.fill_rect
+        else:
+            self._fill_rect_raw = raw.framebuf.fill_rect
 
     def fill(self, color):
         self._raw.fill(rgb_to_gray4(color))
@@ -34,18 +39,40 @@ def line(self, x1, y1, x2, y2, color):
         self._raw.line(x1, y1, x2, y2, rgb_to_gray4(color))
 
     def fill_rect(self, x, y, w, h, color):
-        gray = rgb_to_gray4(color)
-        if hasattr(self._raw, 'fill_rect'):
-            self._raw.fill_rect(x, y, w, h, gray)
-        else:
-            self._raw.framebuf.fill_rect(x, y, w, h, gray)
+        self._fill_rect_raw(x, y, w, h, rgb_to_gray4(color))
 
     def rect(self, x, y, w, h, color):
         gray = rgb_to_gray4(color)
-        if hasattr(self._raw, 'rect'):
+        if hasattr(self._raw, "rect"):
             self._raw.rect(x, y, w, h, gray)
         else:
             self._raw.framebuf.rect(x, y, w, h, gray)
 
     def show(self):
         self._raw.show()
+
+    def draw_scaled_text(self, text, x, y, color, scale):
+        """Draw text with true pixel-scale zoom.
+
+        Each character is rendered into a temporary 8x8 MONO_HLSB framebuf,
+        then each lit pixel is expanded into a scale x scale filled rectangle
+        on the display. The framebuf import is deferred to avoid breaking
+        imports in CPython environments where framebuf is not available.
+        """
+        import framebuf
+
+        gray = rgb_to_gray4(color)
+        blit = self._fill_rect_raw
+
+        char_buf = bytearray(8)
+        fb = framebuf.FrameBuffer(char_buf, 8, 8, framebuf.MONO_HLSB)
+
+        cx = x
+        for char in text:
+            fb.fill(0)
+            fb.text(char, 0, 0, 1)
+            for py in range(8):
+                for px in range(8):
+                    if fb.pixel(px, py):
+                        blit(cx + px * scale, y + py * scale, scale, scale, gray)
+            cx += 8 * scale