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User:RaTcHeT302/AA

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games

Traditional methods

The result is much sharper and clearer than post-processing methods
Usually more taxing on resources
Some methods are mixed with post-processing ones

Super-Sampling Anti-Aliasing (SSAA)

Also known as FullScreen Anti-Aliasing (FSAA)
Applies the general anti-aliasing formula to fullscreen images, reducing the "staircase effect". When compared to a rendered image undergoing MSAA, a SSAA/FSAA image will appear smoother.
Has largely been replaced by MSAA due to the huge stress it puts on the GPU, but due to the better result that it provides, some games still adopt it as an option in the in-game settings.[1]

Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing (MSAA)

Essentially a "budget" version of Super-Sampling
To reduce the stress that SSAA/FSAA puts on a system, multi-sampling optimizes the process by evaluating each pixel only once, with true super-sampling only occurring at the edges of a rendered object, and to depth values. This results in a similar (but less drastic) improvement in visual quality whilst reducing the load put on the system to render and downscale such high resolutions.[2]

Hybrid Sampling Anti-Aliasing (HSAA)

Combination of MSAA and SGSSAA

Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA)

Not confined to a particular manufacturer
Seeks to reduce or remove the effects of temporal aliasing[3]

Hybrid Reconstruction Anti-Aliasing (HRAA)

Hybrid solution of hardware sampling, postprocessing, temporal and analysis[4]

Temporal Super-Sampling Anti-Aliasing (TSSAA)

Also known as TMAA
Applies anti-aliasing not only to the current frame but also to some frames that were rendered before, restoring the old positions of pixels by using their velocity. This creates smoother and more cinematic images in the game, while only slightly increasing the load on your video card.[5]

AMD

Enhanced Quality Anti-Aliasing (EQAA)

HD 6900 series and higher [6]
AMD claims it offers enhanced AA quality over standard Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing modes by adding more coverage samples per pixel but keeping the same number of color/depth/stencil samples to achieve better AA quality than standard MSAA modes.[6]

NVIDIA

Coverage Sampling Anti-Aliasing (CSAA)

QCSAA variant is supposed to increase the quality even further
GeForce 8000 series and higher [7]
Maxwell based cards such as GTX 750 Ti and GTX 800M/900 series removed the support[8]
Aims to further reduce the additional stress that MSAA puts on the system, with Nvidia claiming that a CSAA-rendered image will rival 8x-16x MSAA whilst only putting a load on the system comparable to 4x MSAA. It does this by reducing the number of settings each sample determines (by creating a new sample for coverage) whilst increasing the overall number of samples.

Quincunx Super Anti-Aliasing (QSAA)

Improves on standard MSAA somewhat. For example, 2x QSAA roughly equates to 3x MSAA in terms of quality.[9]

Sparse Grid Super-Sampling Anti-Aliasing (SGSSAA)

GeForce GTX 400 series and higher
Modern version of SSAA, possessing superior quality to other anti-aliasing methods at a steep performance cost.
Comes in two forms: FSSGSSAA (Full Scene Sparse Grid Supersampling Anti-Aliasing) and TRSGSSAA (Transparency Sparse Grid Supersampling Anti-Aliasing). More information can be found here.

Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TXAA)

GeForce GTX 600 series and higher [10]
Film–style technique designed specifically to reduce temporal aliasing (crawling and flickering seen in motion when playing games)
Combines the raw power of MSAA with sophisticated resolve filters similar to those employed in CG films to produce a smooth image.[11]

Multi-Frame Anti-Aliasing (MFAA)

GeForce GTX 900 series and higher [12]
According to Nvidia it reduces performance cost while used with high resolutions and is more flexible to needs of different game engines due to its programmability.[13]
One note of importance is that MFAA doesn't function properly below 40FPS. Below that threshold, MFAA causes smearing and blurring in motion.[14]
  1. Supersampling
  2. Multisample anti-aliasing
  3. Temporal anti-aliasing
  4. HRAA Siggraph 2014 (PPT document) - last accessed on 2016-4-29
  5. Update 9.9: Graphics Changes - World of Tanks - last accessed on 2016-4-29
  6. 6.0 6.1 EQAA Modes for AMD 6900 Series Graphics Cards (PDF document) - last accessed on 2016-4-29
  7. CSAA (Coverage Sampling Antialiasing) article - Nvidia.com - last accessed on 2016-4-29
  8. New nVidia Maxwell chips do not support fast CSAA - Real Hardware Reviews - last accessed on 2016-4-29
  9. MSAA and QSAA thread - Overclockers - last accessed on 2016-4-29
  10. TXAA supported GPUs on GeForce.com - last accessed on 2016-4-29
  11. TXAA Technology on GeForce.com - last accessed on 2016-4-29
  12. MFAA supported GPUs on GeForce.com - last accessed on 2016-4-29
  13. Technology of MFAA on GeForce.com - last accessed on 2016-4-29
  14. NVidia Anti-Aliasing Guide (updated) thread - Guru3D - last accessed on 2016-4-29