What is Anti-Aliasing & do I turn it on?

BKSinAZ · 12-12-2007, 01:44 PM

I am using a 8800GT and playing a game called CRYSIS. In the games settings, there is a on/off setting for Anti-Aliasing. What is it & do I turn it on or off?

ebackhus · 12-12-2007, 02:10 PM

Anti-aliasing is a method that video cards use to reduce the "jaggies" that occur when rendering an image. Jaggies happen because of the sharpness of a computer monitor. Various types of anti-aliasing methods can be used. The two most common are multi-sampling and super-sampling.

In multi-sampling, the frame is rendered multiple times and then averaged together so soften the edges of objects. Super-sampling renders the image at a higher resolution and then squeezes it down to the one you've chosen. Both require extra processing and use more VRAM than the application would otherwise.

It's really up to you whether you want to use anti-aliasing. You have a powerful card so you can turn it on and get good performance at most resolutions. If you bump it higher you may run into performance issues.

12-12-2007, 01:44 PM	#1 (permalink)
BKSinAZ Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 104 OS: XP Pro	What is Anti-Aliasing & do I turn it on? I am using a 8800GT and playing a game called CRYSIS. In the games settings, there is a on/off setting for Anti-Aliasing. What is it & do I turn it on or off?

12-12-2007, 02:10 PM	#2 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,335 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	Re: What is Anti-Aliasing & do I turn it on? Anti-aliasing is a method that video cards use to reduce the "jaggies" that occur when rendering an image. Jaggies happen because of the sharpness of a computer monitor. Various types of anti-aliasing methods can be used. The two most common are multi-sampling and super-sampling. In multi-sampling, the frame is rendered multiple times and then averaged together so soften the edges of objects. Super-sampling renders the image at a higher resolution and then squeezes it down to the one you've chosen. Both require extra processing and use more VRAM than the application would otherwise. It's really up to you whether you want to use anti-aliasing. You have a powerful card so you can turn it on and get good performance at most resolutions. If you bump it higher you may run into performance issues. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.