What Does Anisotropic Filtering Do

Texture Filtering, also known equally Anisotropic Filtering (an-eye-and so-trop-ick), is one of the most common graphics settings you'll come across in games. Anisotropic Filtering is a form of Texture Filtering which has improved on the techniques used for bilinear and trilinear filtering. It'south used in just most every title and typically offers the user at to the lowest degree iv dissimilar settings to cull from.

But what is Texture Filtering, and should you bother turning it on? The applied science enhances the image quality of textures when they are viewed at oblique angles. That is to say, when you aren't looking at a texture caput-on, such as a wall or floor stretching off into the distance. AF reduces the amount of blur and as well helps to preserve the detail of the texture.

Drilling down to the basics, Texture Filtering is handling how a 2nd paradigm (a texture) is displayed when used on a 3D model. While looking at a 2nd paradigm head-on will display a pixel-by-pixel recreation, viewing at a distance or angle tin can warp the clarity. Texture Filtering identifies the point on the texture at which a item pixel is fatigued from, samples nearby texels, and spits out the right colour.

AF is an improvement on the old bilinear and trilinear filtering techniques, producing sharper, clearer textures no matter what bending they're viewed from. It'south fast, anti-aliased texture filtering which tin can ameliorate paradigm quality dramatically with little touch on performance.

Anisotropic Filtering vs Trilinear Filtering

How demanding is Texture Filtering?

Settings vary from Off to 2x, 4x, 8x, and 16x Anisotropic Filtering. These settings decide the steepness of the maximum angles at which AF volition filter the texture. 8x is twice as steep as 4x, etc. The college the setting, the more than VRAM will be used. Texture Filtering is typically a adequately undemanding graphics solution, typically causing a 0-4% drop in frame rates depending on the settings used.

Is it worth enabling Texture Filtering?

Considering how little Texture Filtering (AF) impacts your frame charge per unit, we would recommend yous enable Texture Filtering or Anisotropic Filtering at all times. It will guzzle downwards a scrap of video memory on your graphics card though, so if you're still using a 2GB VRAM video card or less then yous may want to turn the settings downwardly a notch or two to preserve performance.

As with a lot of graphics settings, information technology is a case of diminishing returns as y'all move up through the presets. Having AF turned off will wait dramatically worse than 4x AF, while in that location'south often very little visible difference between AF 8x and AF 16x every bit the instances in which you are viewing angles this obliquely will become rarer.

TF's usefulness will vary from game to game. In the example of Gears 5 beneath, y'all'll see there's precious fiddling carve up 2x from 16x. There's a little more clarity at 16x that's easier to detect when the game is in movement, only for the purpose of stills there'south not a whole lot to see.

Anisotropic Filtering 2x Gears 5

Anisotropic Filtering 4x Gears 5

Anisotropic Filtering 8x Gears 5

Anisotropic Filtering 16x Gears 5

But, if nosotros move onto a second sample game, Hitman ii, you lot'll run into the application of Texture Filtering makes a night and solar day difference. Y'all'll notice in the Low screenshot that the ground textures announced extremely blurry, particularly when looking at more detailed elements such every bit the arrows on the floor or the dividing line running up the exit ramp. On Ultra the floor texture appears precipitous and clear, even when viewed at an oblique angle.