AMD Morphological Filtering

[Pudgie]

Hi Radeon users,

I got to thinking last night and ran a test w\ my R9 Fury X graphics card running AHIII w\ all in-game settings set at default except under the Post Lighting effects (I left this unchecked to not disable it) I unchecked the AHIII in-game AA (FXAA) then enabled the Crimson driver Morphological Filtering (AMD's driver side post processing AA equivalent to FXAA) to see how 1.) it would work w\ AHIII w\o making the text too blurry and 2.) if it would create more of a processing load on the shaders\GPU than FXAA. Performed this test using AHIII Dx11 version. So all other in-game post processed rendering settings were still enabled and only the post processed FXAA was disabled to allow the Crimson driver applied post processed MLAA to perform the same duty in the same manner for comparison. All other in-game\driver settings were left the same.

Provided below are 2 screen shots......1 w\ the game using the in-game FXAA, 1 w\ the game using the AMD driver MLAA so both AA methods are post processed (after all graphics work has passed thru the graphics GPU pipeline then processed thru the shaders before displayed to screen). Made both shots while at the same airfield to try to capture as close to the same parts of the map so that the same rendering\AA work would be as close to the same as it could be for both AA modes.

From what I noted while running MLAA I didn't see or detect any performance degradation at all between the 2 being used w\ the game.....both were showing the same results both in game and on my MSI AB graphs. The text did so slightly get a blurry look to it around the edges of the text using MLAA vs FXAA but was in no way near as bad as this used to get back a few years ago (used to own a HD3870) when this 1st came out so all in all MLAA was performing pretty well w\ AHIII on my Fury X.

Note the extra mem usage in game HUD w\ MLAA being used vs FXAA..............

I was also hoping to see if by using MLAA thru AMD's driver the screen pause issue would improve or not (FXAA was developed by Nvidia but an AMD driver can process\apply the coding on an AMD graphics card whereas AMD's MLAA is proprietary)....while MLAA didn't cure the screen pauses (they still occurred) the frequency of these pauses happening did slow down some as while I was running my Fury X using MLAA the only time a screen pause did occur was when the graphics scenes were low activity in nature (climbouts, descents, cruise at alts above 3-4K where the GPU load\activity drops off the most). Never saw a screen pause w\ either AA mode when I was flying at alts lower than 2K (GPU activity\load is increasing due to ground objects\trees coming into detail range).

Gonna test this some more myself but y'all might give it a run if interested and let me know what you think.

FYI.......................... .........

 

[715]

That's interesting.  I have an HD7870 with Crimson 16.?.? drivers (latest).  On my system, if use DX11 then nothing I set on Radeon AA has any effect, even when set to override.  I get no AA at all unless I enable AH post processing and turn on AH AA.  In DX9, however, if I disable AH post processing, then I can get the Radeon AA to actually be applied (although I don't use morphological AA as I don't like it... I used to use adaptive MSAA until AH3 became more complex and harder on the GPU and I had to fall back to just MSAA).

[38ruk]

That's interesting.  I have an HD7870 with Crimson 16.?.? drivers (latest).  On my system, if use DX11 then nothing I set on Radeon AA has any effect, even when set to override.  I get no AA at all unless I enable AH post processing and turn on AH AA.  In DX9, however, if I disable AH post processing, then I can get the Radeon AA to actually be applied (although I don't use morphological AA as I don't like it... I used to use adaptive MSAA until AH3 became more complex and harder on the GPU and I had to fall back to just MSAA).

This is the same for me ..... in DX11 no AA settings from my Nvidia card work, I can set them to override and use max AA along with Fxaa and it does nothing. The only AA setting in DX11 that has any effect is enabling/ disabling AA in AH3's graphic properties.  I've tried multiple drivers to check and see if it was a driver bug , but it isn't .

In Dx9 if I disable AH3 AA, i can force the settings on the video card without issue.   

[Pudgie]

I have provided the ingame settings that I have set up in AHIII Dx11 (I use the exact same AHIII client settings when ported under Dx9) in snippet below. The only setting not being used in game is the post processed AA (FXAA)...all else is active and operational.

I have also provided the Global settings as set in Radeon Settings Crimson 16.12.2 drivers (I use the global settings to go w\ my Windows CMD created shortcuts that assign AHIII.exe process high priority and CPU affinity thru Windows when 1st executed as when tried thru the Radeon Settings game created profiles some of the Crimson settings do not take in the profiles unless they're applied in the Global Settings....still broken) in snippet below to show how I have this configured on my Fury X graphics card.

All is verified to be working on my box w\ the only question is whether the driver side GPU Supersampling AA is actually being applied to a graphics frame that is actually being called by the AHIII client to be drawn by the GPU but rendering\AA applied post process....I don't believe it is unless there are parts of the graphics frame that GPU Supersampling AA can be applied to w\o any pre-rendering application done by the GPU as from my understanding no AA can be applied to a graphics frame unless color pixel rendering has been applied 1st according to the resolution (PPI) to be used (AA is simply oversampling of the color pixels along the edges of a graphics object within a graphics frame, even if the color pixels are transparent, that are not horizontal or perpendicular (rounded or diagonal) to blend in or blur the jagged edges to appear smooth to the naked eye, applied to only the edges of the drawn and rendered graphics object(s) that need it or applied to the entire graphics frame to apply to the edges of the drawn and rendered graphics object(s) that need it). AMD's MLAA is applied to the entire graphics frame by the shaders which includes any text within the drawn frame thus the blurring and also the extra mem usage so the higher res the monitor is being used the better MLAA will look (as will any other method of AA) and the less blurry the text will be but will put an extra load on the shaders\mem pipeline of the graphics card vs FXAA, but this is where this Fury X may be more suited to use this due to the massive back end power on this card (shader counts and mem bandwidth) on my monitor (2560 x 1440 res at 90Hz).

 

[Pudgie]

That's interesting.  I have an HD7870 with Crimson 16.?.? drivers (latest).  On my system, if use DX11 then nothing I set on Radeon AA has any effect, even when set to override.  I get no AA at all unless I enable AH post processing and turn on AH AA.  In DX9, however, if I disable AH post processing, then I can get the Radeon AA to actually be applied (although I don't use morphological AA as I don't like it... I used to use adaptive MSAA until AH3 became more complex and harder on the GPU and I had to fall back to just MSAA).

After running a lot of tests setting various settings in-game and in Radeon Settings w\ my Fury X I have determined the following:

Using Dx11 the Radeon AA settings actually work when the Radeon AA mode is set to either "Use Application Settings" or "Enhance Application Settings" but the "Override Application Settings" doesn't work at all. The Radeon AA Method settings (multisampling, adaptive multisampling or supersampling) do work w\ the AHIII in-game settings w\ the best 1 to use is adaptive multisampling (AMD equivalent to Nvidia TAAA + TrSSAA......driver default AA level is 2x w\ AA filter at Standard...the lowest level to be applied but not accessible thru Radeon Settings unless "Override Application Settings" is used) as AHIII is calling drawing\rendering low level color pixels at the front end (GPU) then is post processing (if Post Lighting is not disabled) the lighting effects and FXAA (if all these are enabled) thru the shaders to clean up the rest of the jaggies that aren't smoothed over. I can see the difference as multisampling AA doesn't do anything for transparencies so the scenes (water and cockpit glass for starters) are kinda dull and supersampling AA does apply to the transparencies as well but slightly blurs the scenes due to being applied full scene but adaptive multisampling AA being used w\ FXAA to clean up the rest thru the shaders shows very clear, clean & crisp scenes everywhere. AMD's MLAA looked good as well when used in place of FXAA but due to it being applied in the same manner as SS (full scene) it blurs the scene and text slightly. I have 3 screenshots that show the front end low level GPU color rendering that didn't change w\ post lighting enabled then FXAA disabled or post lighting disabled but can clearly see when post lighting is enabled and all lighting\FXAA is enabled and another screenshot of the same except w\ FXAA disabled and AMD MLAA enabled.

I didn't make any attempts to do any of this testing under Dx9 as I really wasn't interested.....only w\ Dx11.

So in the end I went back w\ FXAA as it was the cleaner application of post processed AA that also had the least performance hit.

 

[715]

I retested my system with all combinations of DX11 vs 9, Radeon AA override vs enhance vs use application and AH Post Lighting on vs off and AH AA on vs off.  Everything is still pretty much as I said: with DX11 nothing I do will enable Radeon AA.  Under DX9 I saw a minor difference from my prior testing: while Radeon AA is only applied with "override" it will now actually be applied with Post Lighting both off and on.  I am almost positive that previously (many patches ago, maybe even beta) no Radeon AA would work with Post Lighting on, but tests on my system now show that it clearly is being applied and then AH post processes the resulting frame.  I can tell this by appearance as well as by the fact that tough Radeon AA, like Super Sampling, kills the frame rate even with Post Lighting on.

It's amazing how even with the same program and the same driver software and the same OS different systems respond differently.

(PS.  The way I judge AA appearance is by using external F3 view from the tower and looking at the radar tower and the railings on the top of the control tower.  If AA is bad these will alias as you rotate the view slightly, for example, some of the rungs on the radar tower ladder will disappear etc.  I use 1920x1080; if you have a higher resolution monitor the effects, of course, will be lessened somewhat.)

[Pudgie]

I retested my system with all combinations of DX11 vs 9, Radeon AA override vs enhance vs use application and AH Post Lighting on vs off and AH AA on vs off.  Everything is still pretty much as I said: with DX11 nothing I do will enable Radeon AA.  Under DX9 I saw a minor difference from my prior testing: while Radeon AA is only applied with "override" it will now actually be applied with Post Lighting both off and on.  I am almost positive that previously (many patches ago, maybe even beta) no Radeon AA would work with Post Lighting on, but tests on my system now show that it clearly is being applied and then AH post processes the resulting frame.  I can tell this by appearance as well as by the fact that tough Radeon AA, like Super Sampling, kills the frame rate even with Post Lighting on.

It's amazing how even with the same program and the same driver software and the same OS different systems respond differently.

(PS.  The way I judge AA appearance is by using external F3 view from the tower and looking at the radar tower and the railings on the top of the control tower.  If AA is bad these will alias as you rotate the view slightly, for example, some of the rungs on the radar tower ladder will disappear etc.  I use 1920x1080; if you have a higher resolution monitor the effects, of course, will be lessened somewhat.)

Yes I know what you mean.

I ran all my tests using a screen resolution of 1680x1050 on purpose so that the differences will clearly show up as the sole purpose for AA was to enhance this on low resolution monitors then used a Spit Mk V cockpit on a specific runway facing the same direction so that all graphical use would be as similar as it could w\ the plane's prop in a certain rest position that would clearly show the effects of AA if it was enabled & working as well as sections of the plane's cockpit. Yes the base tower railings will work very well for identifying if AA is being applied....gonna remember that going forwards. Thanks for mentioning that.................

My monitor's native res is 2560x1440 and at this res it is very hard to actually see the jaggies in most instances, w\ 2x AA applied of any stripe it is mostly gone & 4xAA & up is really overkill so w\ any kind of front end low level AA application then FXAA\MLAA application on the back end using the shaders w\ my Fury X creates a perfectly clean antialiased graphics scene (outside of the blurry coloring effects of full scene AA application due to MLAA as opposed to targeted AA from FXAA) w\ a much less loaded GPU under actual game loads on my box w\ my GPU's activity level dropping all the way down to 0% very frequently before spiking back up as recorded & it is when my GPU is at 0% activity long enough of a time is when a screen pause will occur while running under Dx11 (have captured this on my MSI AB graphs). This is also how I know that the Crimson driver isn't making application of any of this when the driver is set to override the application AA settings while running AHIII Dx11 as the GPU % activity usage on my Fury X doesn't increase at all & it should, especially when the Radeon AA is set to 8xEQ (equivalent to 16x), SS w\ Edge Detect (which should load this Fury X's GPU pretty hard).

Even using SS won't bring up my GPU's activity level enough to prevent a screen pause under Dx11......only under Dx9 is all this rectified as the operating GPU game loads under Dx9 are MUCH higher and the 0% activity is hardly reached so thus I have never witnessed a screen pause while running under AHIII under Dx9 on my Fury X.

Thanks for the posting and see ya in the skies!