Do I need to enable AA(anti aliasing) with my 1920x1080 Acer monitor?

[planet-earth]

Hi, I was wondering , is it important or will there be a different when I enable the AA when gaming on a 1920x1080 monitor (which is in this case my 3D monitor from Acer),,,,,cz I heard in the screen resolution is high or equal to or over 1920x1080 you do not need to enable the AA or at least make it low..(in my case I am using (Geforce GTX 480)??????

 

[jay2tall]

AA is a graphical setting that in simple terms smooths the edges of objects. This is entirely personal preference and depends on the hardware you are running. Some people prefer to turn up the graphical detail and leave AA off or at a lower setting. Other prefer to turn down the graphical detail and turn up AA to smooth the edges. If your hardware is capable of running high detail and also a high AA setting, that is usually optimal. But in no way is it necessary. Since you have a GTX480 I would go for the gold and CRANK everything up and go from there. You may find some very demanding games that you need to turn down the AA settings or detail. In the detail settings there is sometimes a high, very high, and ultra high. Some games incorporate the ultra high for people running insane systems with more than one GPU that can handle this type of detail. However, in most cases your card will max most games.

Personally I usually enjoy a higher detail before I enable AA settings. See this link for some more info if you like.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-aliasing

 

[strangestranger]

Those people who say you do not need AA either have not actually played a game at that res or need glasses.

Whilst it is personal preference, it is not a subjective issues regarding whether jaggies exist, they do. Fact.

If you do not mind them fine, but seeing as the hardware you have can afford AA, I would suggest minimum 4xAA unless a really demanding game warrants otherwise.

I've been using 19 x 12 res for years and always like to have AA on.

 

[jay2tall]

IT also depend on the game and how it renders. I am using a borrowed 8800gts/512 right now while my 5870 is out for RMA. I am running Bad Company 2 with high detail and AA and AA off and to be honest I really don't notice many jaggies at all at 1680x1050. It looks pretty darn clean. I mean there ARE rough edges but not like some other games that without AA enabled it looks like crap.

 

[Manicslayer]

Settings should be put as high as performance allows first. After that, AA should be put up. At 19xx res, anything past 4xAA is pointless unless your monitor is over 30". (Game dependent, but generally true.) On a 42" t.v. (with my face practically on the screen) the AA difference stopped being noticeable at 6x generally, while others did need 8x. While sitting back on the couch or even leaning back on the desk, 6xAA was almost overkill. The pixels are so small that smoothing them out really doesn't have that much effect on visuals beyond a certain point.

On my 23" I cap it at 2xAA generally since the screen is smaller and my 5770 can only handle so much AA with max settings before I start seeing frame rates dropping in high demanding games. I do notice a big difference with AA on and off, but there is diminished returns with it. Also, AF is noticeable and seems to scale a little better at higher levels. With a GTX480, crank them as high as performance allows...which should be pretty dang high, if not max, on almost any game.

 

[wh3resmycar]

if you personally can't see the jaggies with your naked eye then dont enable it.

 

[gamerk316]

Most games don't really need AA anymore; In my mind, with AA off, I rarly see jaggies anymore...(as opposed to games just a few years ago, where 16x couldn't make the jaggies go away).

Still, with a 480, whats stopping you?

 

[rofl_my_waffle]

1080P resolution isn't really all high, you should at least have some AA on if you want to reduce hard edges.

Now at 2560x1600 I can say 2x AA is as good as it gets. There is little distinction between 2x and 16x because theres so many pixels to begin with. This is the resolution you can get away with none or low AA and still looks stunning great.

 

[planet-earth]

Best answer selected by planet-earth.