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[daninthemix]

Ever since I moved to a 4K screen I've found myself keeping AA off, for the most part. All post-process solutions seem to blur too much detail, which I am particularly conscious of at 4K, while doing little to eradicate jaggies that are hard to notice in the first place.

The only aliasing I notice regularly at this resolution is temporal aliasing, which standard post AA does nothing about. Modern games now include temporal AA, of course, and that's great. But for the majority of games not released in the past two years, I really am finding that AA off is the best setting for image quality.

Was wondering whether others have noticed the same. In the past, of course, it was the lesser of two evils.

 

[Alexious]

I wouldn't say AA off is the best setting for image quality, but it is definitely a good way to recoup a little performance since it's not as noticeable at 4K resolution.

 

[CaptainSmirnov]

Gonna have to say TAA is best for 4k, makes it look clean while still having plenty of detail

 

[moltonasty]

At 4K it's almost like you don't need AA with that level of pixel density. If you have the processing power though it certainly can't hurt.

 

[ISee]

Even at 4k AA is needed to help with shimmering and image noise. I'm always turning it on.

 

[SoundLad]

I guess it depends on pixel density / PPI of your 4K display. You should see an improvement when using AA @4K on a large TV but once you start moving towards smaller 4K computer monitors the benefits of AA start diminishing.

 

[inner-G]

At TV/couch distance, AA seems to just make it look softer for the most part in my experience

I don't have a 4K monitor though, so I've not tried one up-close.

 

[daninthemix]

At TV/couch distance, AA seems to just make it look softer for the most part in my experience

I don't have a 4K monitor though, so I've not tried one up-close.

I have a 27" monitor that is 30" from my face, and I've noticed exactly what you've said - AA makes the image softer, removing a decent chunk of the very detail I'm running @ 4K for in the first place.

 

[Script of the Bridge]

SMAA is all I need at 4k tbh.

Screw the blurry TAA/FXAA crap.

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

I'm not much of an IQ snob, so I turn on AA only if there is no noticeable performance penalty. I've been that way since AA first started becoming an option on PC. I always opt for a smother framerate over AA or shadow detail, etc. If I'm hitting 60 fps comfortably then I'll turn it on because there's no reason not to.

 

[jim2point0]

Absolutely, it does. 4K with no AA at all will still look pretty jaggy (at least to me). On a PC where you're very close to the screen, you'll notice it. It depends on the game too. Games with more complex lines will tend to look more aliased.

I like games that use some kind of TAA the best. Battlefield 1 with TAA looks great. Even Fallout 4 has great TAA. Otherwise I'll go with post process AA (like SMAA) which is pretty cheap.

 

[RayCharlizard]

I might get flayed alive for saying this but at 4K, and this varies from game to game, but if I notice a lot of shimmering or obvious jaggies early on, I enable NVIDIA FXAA for that title in the control panel. I wouldn't do this at 1080p or even 1440p but at 2160p I feel there's enough image data there to still benefit from the large resolution bump. This is only if the game doesn't support a nice form of TAA, which is another that is kind of hit or miss for me in regards to quality and coverage. Frostbite games seem to have best looking TAA.

 

[jim2point0]

I might get flayed alive for saying this but at 4K, and this varies from game to game, but if I notice a lot of shimmering or obvious jaggies early on, I enable NVIDIA FXAA for that title in the control panel. I wouldn't do this at 1080p or even 1440p but at 2160p I feel there's enough image data there to still benefit from the large resolution bump. This is only if the game doesn't support a nice form of TAA, which is another that is kind of hit or miss for me in regards to quality and coverage. Frostbite games seem to have best looking TAA.

At 4K, FXAA isn't nearly as bad as it is at lower resolutions. Still pretty blurry, and way moreso than something like SMAA, but still. I think it's reasonable if it's your only option. Maybe add some sharpening back to the game via ReShade (or in-game graphics options if it's available).

 

[Izuna]

TXAA 2x or 4MSAA

Or SMAA (love)

FXAA can fuck right off

 

[Seik]

I turn AA off, honestly 4K is very fucking sharp, too much to be worth a sacrifice in performance for AA. I'd need to have my retina scotched to the display to see jaggies. :lol

Especially since I'm borderline with my GTX 1060.

LG B6 OLED user here.

 

[RayCharlizard]

At 4K, FXAA isn't nearly as bad as it is at lower resolutions. Still pretty blurry, and way moreso than something like SMAA, but still. I think it's reasonable if it's your only option. Maybe add some sharpening back to the game via ReShade (or in-game graphics options if it's available).

Is there a "one size fits all" SMAA / sharpening ReShade profile without all the other junk? Honestly I don't ever mess with it because the profiles I find are full of extras like hue/saturation, bloom, contrast, etc. Every time I try to setup my own profile my eyes sort of glaze over looking at all the options.

 

[Backfoggen]

You notice the loss of detail from post processing AA but not all the shimmering from no AA?

 

[Neith]

At 4K it's almost like you don't need AA with that level of pixel density. If you have the processing power though it certainly can't hurt.

This is not really correct. There is plenty of aliasing at 4K if you look for it. Why would AA hurt anything on 4K?

I use SMAA at 4K for the most part, and that is with supersampling with DSR down to 1080p.

Even at 8K you probably want a one pass of something like SMAA.

SMAA is all I need at 4k tbh.

Screw the blurry TAA/FXAA crap.

The one game, and there are a couple out there, where this does not actually work is Watch Dogs 2. No one can really run it at 4K and 60FPS, so you really got to use TXAA 2x if you want decent image quality. Even at 4K the game has jaggies galore without any AA.

I tried all the options at 1080p. SMAA is a joke with those jaggies, the worst out there for just about any game I have seen, and even MSAA doesn't do much for a lot of it. TXAA 4x is waaaaaaayyyy too blurry though.

 

[Durante]

I certainly easily notice a lack of AA at 4k.

And even with single-pass postpossessing methods (like SMAA1x) in most games temporal aliasing would annoy me a lot with no AA at 4k.

 

[JigglesBunny]

AA always off, even at 1080p. Sharper image over blurred, jaggie-free image any day.

 

[Eclectic Sk3ptic]

It definitely helps at 4K. In fact, I continue to use as much AA as possible to minimize temporal aliasing, and will downsample to 4K whenever possible. And that's at 8' from a 65" 4K TV set. If I were sitting up close to a monitor I would probably like to have even higher levels of AA. Call me crazy, but I tend to perceive overly sharp and aliased images to have less detail than softer, more temporally stable ones.

 

[Maintenance]

 

 

[tuxfool]

Even at 4K and doubly so for games with a long draw distance where objects need to be scaled at a distance. Short of very visibly popping between objects of higher LOD levels you need some degree of AA to mask over aliasing in detailed sections.

You notice the loss of detail from post processing AA but not all the shimmering from no AA?

Yeah, this is hard to understand, temporal aliasing draws your eyes, much like a flashing light.

 

[elelunicy]

AA always off, even at 1080p. Sharper image over blurred, jaggie-free image any day.

Temporally stable image over sharp, blur-free image all day every day.

I have no idea how people play games when everything just shimmers and flickers. 4k is not even remotely enough to remove the need for AA. Hell, even 8k isn't enough. Most games are more temporally stable at 4k with TAA than 8k with AA off.

 

[SirNinja]

I have a fairly small 4K monitor (i.e., much higher pixel density) so AA isn't incredibly important to me. A little of it is fine; it's diminishing returns after that.

 

[thelastword]

4k does not oust the need for proper anti-aliasing....Shimmering still rears it's ugly head at 4k. TAA helps alot at that resolution for said purpose..

 

[tuxfool]

AA always off, even at 1080p. Sharper image over blurred, jaggie-free image any day.

I bet you like watching movies in the wrong aspect ratio too.

 

[Neith]

AA always off, even at 1080p. Sharper image over blurred, jaggie-free image any day.

LOL. Yeah no. The image isn't really much sharper without SMAA or MSAA. And good lord why does this opinion crop up? I want to say you are objectively wrong, but you can like your awful image quality if you please.

I think this is a joke post but I have seen this post from actual people that believe this or like this.

 

[Starviper]

At 4k it shouldn't really be needed, but that always depends on the game engine and how it's all being rendered. Generally i'd leave it off or on a low setting at that Res. to keep performance up.

 

[Lime]

SMAA is perfect with 4K for me. Little performance impact, deals with the most egregious aliasing, and relatively little blur compared to its counterparts.

 

[BRocknRolla]

I definitely notice aliasing at 4k. I use AA, albeit typically at lower levels, even with 4k. I had an impression that it wouldn't be necessary at 4k, but that's simply wrong.

It definitely helps at 4K. In fact, I continue to use as much AA as possible to minimize temporal aliasing, and will downsample to 4K whenever possible. And that's at 8' from a 65" 4K TV set. If I were sitting up close to a monitor I would probably like to have even higher levels of AA. Call me crazy, but I tend to perceive overly sharp and aliased images to have less detail than softer, more temporally stable ones.

Wouldn't say I perceive less detail, but the aliasing definitely does distract from other detail. As such, I agree that I'll take a slightly softer image to do away with that.

 

[RedAssedApe]

depends. not a fan of any aa solution that adds noticeable blur

 

[bananafactory]

Definitely off for me.

 

[tuxfool]

 

[Truant]

I game on my TV, so TAA 4 lyfe.

 

[WheelHoss1]

Last of Us 2160p mode (locked 30 FPS): Does it have AA?

Been playing this in 2160 for first time. Looks unreal. Sometimes looks like a photo

 

[Kaleinc]

And OP doesn't mention real AA.

 

[tuxfool]

And OP doesn't mention real AA.

Maybe because calling multisampling or supersampling, "Real" AA is bullshit?

 

[nOoblet16]

And OP doesn't mention real AA.

I think this post below is a perfect response to your talk about "real AA"

 

[Mohasus]

AA always off, even at 1080p. Sharper image over blurred, jaggie-free image any day.

I'm like this. But racing games really need some AA though.

 

[DanWensing]

I like it, but I cant use it because my GTX 1070 cant handle it at 4k/60fps. =/

 

[Timu]

AA always off, even at 1080p. Sharper image over blurred, jaggie-free image any day.

That's crazy, jaggies can be really bad for a lot of PC games!

 

[daninthemix]

EDIT: wrong thread. Soz!

 

[teh_pwn]

Usually once you're running at 4K, there's way less benefit per cost in utilizing AA. Maxing textures, AF, lighting and other things easily take priority. 4K helps reduce the impact of aliasing a ton.