Anti Aliasing

[Paddi01]

Which option is more demanding: MSAA or SSAA?

Or is this setting dependent on the game itself?

There´s also FXAA but which do you prefer having the best balance of visuals/performance?

[tomoki]

I think SSAA is more demanding than MSAA. FXAA I know is least demanding. If performance is an issue for your computer, use FXAA. I think most games go as far as MSAA and yes, I do think it's dependent on the game. I've only seen up to MSAA lately though. 

 

I also believe you can turn on SSAA via Nvidia control panel. I'm clueless about AMD. 

[johnukguy]

SSAA is more demanding. I have a 1440p monitor and find that either very low AA settings work well or have it off completely. Your mileage though may vary and it's often a compromise between aesthetics and performance.

[Wh0_Am_1]

SMAA, here is a video all about it.

[Paddi01]

10 minutes ago, Wh0_Am_1 said:

SMAA, here is a video all about it.

This. Is. Perfect.

thanks

[Zodiark1593]

SSAA is essentially downsampling, rendering the scene at a higher resolution then scaling it to the original dimensions. A 2x2 SSAA (4x) will quadruple the resolution being rendered. A 1920 x 1080 setting with 4x SSAA, for all intents and purposes, possesses similar overhead to running at 4k resolution.

 

MSAA is a variation that selectively targets edges and renders those at the higher resolution, leaving everything else untouched. The performance hit is quite high, but is milder than SSAA. There are variations from each vendor that tradeoff image quality and performance, though results may vary. In games that use deferred shading, the performance hit of MSAA is drastically higher. 

 

Means of AA that are applied as a post effect (FXAA, MLAA, SMAA) incurr the smallest performance hits, though are liable to produce an overly soft image. This downside is much less pronounced at higher resolutions however. Some algorithms are better at producing a sharper image at the expense of performance.

[Paddi01]

8 hours ago, Zodiark1593 said:

SSAA is essentially downsampling, rendering the scene at a higher resolution then scaling it to the original dimensions. A 2x2 SSAA (4x) will quadruple the resolution being rendered. A 1920 x 1080 setting with 4x SSAA, for all intents and purposes, possesses similar overhead to running at 4k resolution.

 

MSAA is a variation that selectively targets edges and renders those at the higher resolution, leaving everything else untouched. The performance hit is quite high, but is milder than SSAA. There are variations from each vendor that tradeoff image quality and performance, though results may vary. In games that use deferred shading, the performance hit of MSAA is drastically higher. 

 

Means of AA that are applied as a post effect (FXAA, MLAA, SMAA) incurr the smallest performance hits, though are liable to produce an overly soft image. This downside is much less pronounced at higher resolutions however. Some algorithms are better at producing a sharper image at the expense of performance.

Good explanation. I realized that in games like Crysis 3, MSAA is extremely demanding, but like you said, it depend´s on the game.

[Frankenburger]

It also depends on the level of Anti Aliasing we're comparing. Often times it's possible to get a better looking image by using SSAA than MSAA at similar performance. Like was mentioned before, MSAA only targets the visible edges of polygons, which means it won't apply anti aliasing to specular aliasing or texture aliasing. GTA V is a pretty good example of MSAA not working as well as it should, even at 8x MSAA, while 2xSSAA yields a much more noticeable improvement at a smaller performance hit. Unreal Engine 3 games are another good example of this.

[Paddi01]

16 minutes ago, Frankenburger said:

It also depends on the level of Anti Aliasing we're comparing. Often times it's possible to get a better looking image by using SSAA than MSAA at similar performance. Like was mentioned before, MSAA only targets the visible edges of polygons, which means it won't apply anti aliasing to specular aliasing or texture aliasing. GTA V is a pretty good example of MSAA not working as well as it should, even at 8x MSAA, while 2xSSAA yields a much more noticeable improvement at a smaller performance hit. Unreal Engine 3 games are another good example of this.

So it can be said that it´s somewhat engine dependent?

[Frankenburger]

30 minutes ago, Paddi01 said:

So it can be said that it´s somewhat engine dependent?

It's more about what games utilize various rendering techniques that cause aliasing outside of geometric edges. Pretty much any form of normal mapping or specular lighting is subject to aliasing. So I guess you could say it's engine dependent, but most games nowadays use normal mapping and specular lighting.

[Wh0_Am_1]

On 1/26/2018 at 4:21 PM, Paddi01 said:

This. Is. Perfect.

thanks

Your welcome.