NVIDIA's New FXAA Antialiasing Technology

[Red Hawk]

Any update on this? I'd really like to see this implemented in the drivers. External methods support DX9, DX10, and DX11. This should support everything.

I don't know if Nvidia supports forcing FXAA in the drivers, but AMD has supported forcing their equivalent, MLAA, in the drivers for a while now.

 

[AdamK47]

I've been playing with the 295.18 drivers which have FXAA available from the control panel. I like the ability to add FXAA to a games existing AA setting. Batman Arkham City looks fantastic with everything maxed (DX11 + effects, PhysX high, etc.) plus 8X AA set in game with FXAA on top of that. Just Cause 2 does as well. Tried it in Dead Island too. Since the game doesn't have an in game AA setting, all I had to do what use "Enhance the Application Settings" from the control panel with FXAA and 8X MSAA also set. Everything looks amazing!

 

[BFG10K]

Since the game doesn't have an in game AA setting, all I had to do what use "Enhance the Application Settings" from the control panel with FXAA and 8X MSAA also set. Everything looks amazing!

Enhance doesn't do anything if the game doesn't set AA first.

 

[AdamK47]

It works in Oblivion and Dead Island. Both have AA off in game.

 

[AdamK47]

Some shots from a couple games using 8X MSAA + 2X SGSSAA + FXAA + 16X AF. Everything else maxed in game. I get constant 60 FPS while playing.

Just Cause 2

Skyrim

So far I'm liking FXAA when used in combination with other AA methods.

 

[AdamK47]

Assassin's Creed II - Using the same settings except no SGSSAA. It dips under 60 FPS with it on, so I force Multisample Tranparency AA instead.

 

[AdamK47]

Not that anyone cares, but I've been playing with SMAA as well. Works great in Dead Island with the AA compatability flag set in nVidia Inspector.

This is using the games built in edge AA + 8X CSAA + Multisample Transparency AA + SMAA on High. For some odd reason SMAA actually smooths out the framerate. It's most noticable in the games menu.

 

[tviceman]

Honestly, I turn on 4x MSAA if it doesn't incur too much of a frame rate hit, or FXAA if that is what the game's native setting option is, and as I play I never notice jaggies. Sure, still screen shots with several different AA's applied look pretty and jagged-line free, but while in game I never notice jagged edges with plain old 43 MSAA.

 

[Red Hawk]

MSAA apparently doesn't have any effect on alpha effects (such as tree branches and leaves). FXAA/MLAA does, so even if you're already running full 8x MSAA you can benefit from FXAA/MLAA. If you don't like the blur that FXAA/MLAA can cause, the other option is to enable transparency/adaptive AA in the drivers. From what I've read, it's a sort of localized supersample antialiasing, that supersamples the alpha textures only. Of course the performance hit can be pretty high with that.

 

[Ihmemies]

I wish every game supported FXAA. Even on lowest quality it's good enough for me at 2560x1600 and performance hit is very small, smaller than normal 2xAA.

Ingame support is a must because other solutions blur the whole image, including GUI elements & text, not just the rendered 3D view.

 

[lamedude]

Some dude's FXAA injector works for any 32bit D3D9 or higher program. Here's the first working link I found. If you prefer less blur use SMAA.

 

[Idontcare]

Not that anyone cares, but I've been playing with SMAA as well. Works great in Dead Island with the AA compatability flag set in nVidia Inspector.

This is using the games built in edge AA + 8X CSAA + Multisample Transparency AA + SMAA on High. For some odd reason SMAA actually smooths out the framerate. It's most noticable in the games menu.

I'm impressed by the lack of jaggies on the palm tree leaves. :thumbsup:

 

[destrekor]

Honestly, if I can turn on multiple forms of AA, I'd most certainly NOT employ FXAA on top of all that.
FXAA is a good fix when you cannot employ other methods of AA due to performance/hardware cost (looking at you, BF3), because it's free and does a damn good job.
But running it on top of other methods, you start LOWERING image quality.
In those shots above, I cannot help but imagine the resulting images would be sharper and better looking if FXAA was disabled.

 

[Leyawiin]

Tried it on its own in Skyrim (in game option). Blurry mess.

 

[AdamK47]

Some dude's FXAA injector works for any 32bit D3D9 or higher program. Here's the first working link I found. If you prefer less blur use SMAA.

Actually, not all DX9/DX10/DX11 games will run when using the injector method. Some games refuse to start with the files in place. Crysis 2 is an example. It won't start when the files are put in the games executable folder. It does work through the nVidia drivers. The game has an old built version of FXAA that looks bad. Replacing it with the updated version through the nVidia control panel makes it look much better. The drivers also allow FXAA on OpenGL games. Amnesia - The Dark Descent is a nice example of how it can work in OpenGL. For some reason I cannot toggle the green FXAA indicator off in any OpenGL game using nVidia Inspector. Looks great despite that though.

 

[AdamK47]

Tried it on its own in Skyrim (in game option). Blurry mess.

I think it looks great on transparent textures. It does blur, but I find it acceptable given how much better it can makes the trees in the game look. I use the 3.11 injector method at a preset quality setting of 39, which does look better than the games built in mode.

 

[AdamK47]

Honestly, if I can turn on multiple forms of AA, I'd most certainly NOT employ FXAA on top of all that.
FXAA is a good fix when you cannot employ other methods of AA due to performance/hardware cost (looking at you, BF3), because it's free and does a damn good job.
But running it on top of other methods, you start LOWERING image quality.
In those shots above, I cannot help but imagine the resulting images would be sharper and better looking if FXAA was disabled.

More examples of combined AA modes straight from the developer.

http://timothylottes.blogspot.com/2011/12/fxaa-40-with-178x-ssaa.html

http://timothylottes.blogspot.com/2011/10/random-aa-thoughts-continued.html

 

[BFG10K]

It works in Oblivion and Dead Island. Both have AA off in game.

No it doesn't; I just tried Oblivion with enhance 8xSSAA and no AA was being applied until I changed it to override. Enhance doesn't do what you think it does.

As for the rest of your games, they're either setting AA in-game, or driver FXAA possibly always functions as override, in which case you’re only getting FXAA and nothing else.

 

[MrK6]

MLAA and FXAA get worse as you increase the resolution. At 2560x1600 it's a night and day difference comparing the blurriness. I've tried the SMAA injector in Skyrim and it's better than stock, but still awful. MSAA + Transparency AA is still the best IQ IMO, and it's what I'll use until something improves. FWIW, I'd rather play without any AA than MLAA/FXAA.

 

[AdamK47]

No it doesn't; I just tried Oblivion with enhance 8xSSAA and no AA was being applied until I changed it to override. Enhance doesn't do what you think it does.

As for the rest of your games, they're either setting AA in-game, or driver FXAA possibly always functions as override, in which case you’re only getting FXAA and nothing else.

Who did what to the where, boss?