AA and Resolution

[MNB4800]

I have been having this question in my mind for a long time now and I guess the best way to know is to ask it here. I have a 24inch monitor and I run all my games at the maximum resolution (1920x1200). Also, it has been noted that performance wise 24xEDAA (Edge Detect AA) has the highest impact vs 4xMSAA (Multi Sample AA) with 12xEDAA and 8xMSAA in between.

My question is, is there really any difference, visual wise, between these AA modes at that resolution? I might notice a difference between 4xMSAA and 8xMSAA but when it comes to 12xEDAA and 24xEDAA, I hardly do. I just feel there is a difference due to my knowledge in advance that there should be a difference (my mind playing with me?!).

Tell me your thoughts on this since sometimes I feel I should just stick to 8xMSAA and get that huge improvement in performance compared to running 24xEDAA.

Note that I have a 5870 1GB running on a Phenom II 955 BE @ 3.6Ghz.

[Melchior]

I find 8xMSAA to be a bit better than 12xED, and much faster than 24xED. On some games where the extra performance is "free" I enable ED24x anyways, it has a subtle but positive effect on very thin stuff like powerlines in Halflife 2.

[demowhc]

Yeh I think 8xMSAA looks better than 12xEDAA but I can certainly tell the difference between 4xMSAA and 12xEDAA, and 8xMSAA and 24xEDAA, especially when using Adaptive AA in games with lots of alpha textures like Empire Total War, Oblivion etc.

[Dave]

instead of using 12xEDAA or 24xEDAA try 4xSSAA. give that 5870 something to do

[MNB4800]

I don't see using SSAA on any modern game really at the resolution I play on.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by MNB4800

I don't see using SSAA on any modern game really at the resolution I play on.

works well for resident evil 5 and far cry 2, never know till you try. (i have a 5870 btw)

[kn00tcn]

i'm fine with 4xAA, 8x seems minor (noticeable on certain edges though)

2xAA is a bit nasty, but beats 0x

[demowhc]

Originally Posted by kn00tcn

2xAA is a bit nasty, but beats 0x

It depends on the screen used aswell, 2xAA on my 21" 1080p screen looks as good as 4xAA on my 22" 1680x1050 screen, and I'd say 4xAA on the 1080p screen looks on par with 8xAA on the 22" aswell.

[kn00tcn]

pixels are pixels, it only depends on how far away you are & how sensitive you are (& maybe how sharp the monitor is)

[Melchior]

Well smaller dot pitch has the effect of increasing AA effectiveness, since the smaller the pixels physically are the less noticable aliasing becomes.

[demowhc]

Originally Posted by kn00tcn

pixels are pixels, it only depends on how far away you are & how sensitive you are (& maybe how sharp the monitor is)

Originally Posted by Melchior

Well smaller dot pitch has the effect of increasing AA effectiveness, since the smaller the pixels physically are the less noticable aliasing becomes.

what he said

[zshadow]

At 2560x1600, I find 4xAA is the sweet spot. 2xAA is good enough, though.

[kn00tcn]

smaller pitch & i'll sit closer

i like to immerse into the screen

[demowhc]

Originally Posted by kn00tcn

smaller pitch & i'll sit closer

At least it will look better.. pushing a screen further away with larger pixel pitch cannot substitute the quality of a screen with smaller pixel pitch.. in theory maybe yes, but in reality no.

[dmanna]

speaking of this stuff MW2 actually looks pretty damn awesome with 24 edge detect. For some reason I was just using the default in game settings because most games I play cant consistantly keep 60 fps with 24 edge detect. Thats with a 4870x2.