When using FXAA or SuperSampling, is there a point to choosing MSAA modes?

Hi PowerK!

From my understanding.

Multi-sampling offers quality on polygon edges.

Transparency super-sampled, offers quality on transparent Alpha Test but doesn't touch transparent alpha blends -- do you have examples of it offering quality on specular artifacts? Specular aliasing is an ugly artifact.

Full-scene helps reduce specular, shader, shimmering/temporal noise, shadow aliasing - to name some.

Personally investigated the patterns of the modes and x4 multi-sampling and X4 SGSSAA offer x4 samples on polygon edges and x4 samples on textures. When in hybrid modes with SGSSAA, they offer unideal patterns -- for example x8 multi-sampling; the x4 SGSSAA positioning of the samples is not ideal like they are when the are matching samples -- that site that you offered is right on target.

 

I see you guys think "full scene" means the entire scene must be blurred or something, but technically MSAA is still a form of full scene antialiasing.

These are the setting I use at the moment as well

 

Full Scene SGSSAA

Full Scene OGSSAA

Full Scene RGSSAA.

Full Scene in the context of SSAA and offering texture anti-aliasing attributes.

 

Roger that. I understand what you meant from the very beginning. I'm just putting it out there that MSAA is FSAA.

 

Thanks though -- personally should of been clearer with my post.

 

Hi Paul!

As for specular aliasing, Need for Speed : Shift should be a good example. If my memory serves correctly, TrSSAA didn't help with specular aliasing. However, SGSSAA did help to reduce if not eliminating specular alaising. It's been a long time since I tried that game. (last time was with my 580 SLI).

 

Someone correct me if I'm mistaken.
For SGSSAA, working MSAA is always the prerequisite, no matter if you use Nvidia or AMD.

Now, I hear that when SGSSAA is selected, it "overwrites" the MSAA but uses the same sample positions. This means my quote above is incorrect.

 

Yes 4x SGSSAA benefits over 2x2 OGSSAA because it uses 4x MSAA's sparse/rotated grid sub sample pattern.

 

SGSSAA would indeed help on specular aliasing -- and even the older hybrid mixed modes like the x8SQ would as well. For years, nVidia's x8SQ was my favorite setting if I had the performance and before that the x10 Super-AA setting from ATI, which was hybrid mixed of multi/super-sampled -- those settings were very comparable to each other.

When Blaire discovered that nVidia offered SGSSAA with Fermi, with the bug -- that was a tremendous day, based on the quality compared to ordered. It may not help sell a ton of new GPU's or a sexy feature for all, but to have clean screens while in a moving environments is sort of the holy grail of image quality to some gamers.

Really enjoy having flexibility and choice based on application and subjective tastes and tolerances.

 

In case you don't know the way you can deem the position of the samples is a FSAA Viewer:

http://www.3dcenter.org/download/d3d-fsaa-viewer

 

Check out 32x SGSSAA with that tool.

 

Thanks. I'll fiddle around with the tool this weekend.