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Jun 7, 2025
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Document sub-pixel morphological antialiasing (SMAA) #10867

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71 changes: 48 additions & 23 deletions tutorials/3d/3d_antialiasing.rst
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Expand Up @@ -181,6 +181,31 @@ Comparison between no antialiasing (left) and FXAA (right):

.. image:: img/antialiasing_fxaa.webp

Sub-pixel Morphological Antialiasing (SMAA 1x)
----------------------------------------------

*This is only available in the Forward+ and Mobile renderers, not the Compatibility
renderer.*

Sub-pixel Morphological Antialiasing is a post-processing antialiasing solution.
It runs slightly slower than FXAA, but produces less blurriness. This is very helpful
when the screen resolution is 1080p or below. Just like FXAA, SMAA 1x lacks temporal
information and will therefore not do much against specular aliasing.

Use SMAA 1x if you can't afford MSAA, but find FXAA too blurry.

Combine it with TAA, or even FSR2, to maximize antialiasing at a higher GPU cost
and some added blurriness. This is most beneficial in fast-moving scenes or just
after a camera cut, especially at lower FPS.

SMAA 1x can be enabled in the Project Settings by changing the value of the
:ref:`Rendering > Anti Aliasing > Quality > Screen Space AA<class_ProjectSettings_property_rendering/anti_aliasing/quality/screen_space_aa>`
setting to ``SMAA``.

Comparison between no antialiasing (left) and SMAA 1x (right):

.. image:: img/antialiasing_smaa.webp

Supersample antialiasing (SSAA)
-------------------------------

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -295,29 +320,29 @@ Antialiasing comparison
.. The table looks malformed but is not. When making changes, check the nearby
.. lines for guidance.

+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Feature | MSAA | TAA | FSR2 | FXAA | SSAA | SSRL |
+==========================+==========================+==========================+==========================+==========================+==========================+==========================+
| Edge antialiasing | 🟢 Yes | 🟢 Yes | 🟢 Yes | 🟢 Yes | 🟢 Yes | 🔴 No |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Specular antialiasing | 🟡 Some | 🟢 Yes | 🟢 Yes | 🟡 Some | 🟢 Yes | 🟢 Yes |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Transparency antialiasing| 🟡 Some [1]_ | 🟢 Yes [2]_ | 🟢 Yes [2]_ | 🟢 Yes | 🟢 Yes | 🔴 No |
| | | | | | | |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Added blur | 🟢 None | 🟡 Some | 🟡 Some | 🟡 Some | 🟡 Some [3]_ | 🟢 None |
| | | | | | | |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Ghosting artifacts | 🟢 None | 🔴 Yes | 🔴 Yes | 🟢 None | 🟢 None | 🟢 None |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Performance cost | 🟡 Medium | 🟡 Medium | 🔴 High | 🟢 Low | 🔴 Very High | 🟢 Low |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Forward+ | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Mobile | ✔️ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Compatibility | ✔️ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | ✔️ Yes | ❌ No |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Feature | MSAA | TAA | FSR2 | FXAA | SMAA 1x | SSAA | SSRL |
+==========================+==========================+==========================+==========================+==========================+==========================+==========================+==========================+
| Edge antialiasing | 🟢 Yes | 🟢 Yes | 🟢 Yes | 🟢 Yes | 🟢 Yes | 🟢 Yes | 🔴 No |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Specular antialiasing | 🟡 Some | 🟢 Yes | 🟢 Yes | 🟡 Some | 🟡 Some | 🟢 Yes | 🟢 Yes |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Transparency antialiasing| 🟡 Some [1]_ | 🟢 Yes [2]_ | 🟢 Yes [2]_ | 🟢 Yes | 🟢 Yes | 🟢 Yes | 🔴 No |
| | | | | | | | |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Added blur | 🟢 None | 🟡 Some | 🟡 Some | 🟡 Some | 🟢 Low | 🟡 Some [3]_ | 🟢 None |
| | | | | | | | |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Ghosting artifacts | 🟢 None | 🔴 Yes | 🔴 Yes | 🟢 None | 🟢 None | 🟢 None | 🟢 None |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Performance cost | 🟡 Medium | 🟡 Medium | 🔴 High | 🟢 Very Low | 🟢 Low | 🔴 Very High | 🟢 Low |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Forward+ | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Mobile | ✔️ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Compatibility | ✔️ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | ✔️ Yes | ❌ No |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+


.. [1] MSAA does not work well with materials with Alpha Scissor (1-bit transparency).
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