Anti-Aliasing

[MK-84]

What exactly is this, and what does it do for AH.  Also any chance of someone showing the difference?

[Ack-Ack]

Is basic layman's terms, it it's a way to trick the eye into thinking a jagged edge is smooth.




ack-ack

[The Fugitive]

notice in Acks picture, with anti-aliased off each step in one solid step. With it turned on they over lay 8 steps/pictures of different shades to make each step. So as you turn anti-aliased up you add...in this case 8 pictures to every one of it off. That's a lot of horse power. It's like at 60 fps you would have 60 pictures, with it on to stay at 60 fps your card would have to make 480 pictures.

[715]

That's called FSAA or full screen antialiasing and most graphics cards don't do that at all, at least not in their simple settings.  The have special algorithms that speed things up by antialiasing only the edges of polygons, not every single pixel on the screen.  Thus the edges of polygons get the AA treatment but the interior, i.e. the textures, don't.  That's why, say, the window panes of the VH or the tower look staircase even with AA on (unless you select FSAA or some version of it).

I know that with my old 4850 card turning on 4X or even 8X AA reduces frame rate only slightly, but then it isn't AA'ing the textures.