FSX - AA & AF card settings Vs Using application settings

[DarrenL]

I've been using the ATi Catalyst controller program to up the AA & AF settings maxing them out as they make for example Railworks look really good, straight edges no pixelation on tracks and no problems. I have been running it on FSX as well but it doesn't seem to work, in fact the "Use application settings" on the catalyst controller give a far better result, the complete opposite of Railworks.

Full screen images to see the differences.

Railworks - using aplication settings, jagged lines along the train.
http://www.mercia.biz/railworks/jagged-RW.jpg

Railworks - using custom settings 24x AA edge detect & 16X AF, smooth lines.
http://www.mercia.biz/railworks/smooth-RW.jpg

But the the opposite.

FSX - using application settings, smooth lines & sharp.
http://www.mercia.biz/fsx/AA-Large.jpg

FSX - using custom settings 24x AA edge detect & 16X AF, jagged lines along the fuselage.
http://www.mercia.biz/fsx/BMA-Large.jpg

Has anyone found the same, in fact are you using ATI settings instead of application settings on your ATI and possibly missing out on better graphical quality? I find it odd though as the only high setting in FSX is for Anisotropic and turning Anti-aliasing on. In the CFG file it's just "Anisotropic=1" and "AntiAlias=1". Does anyone with knowledge of the ins & outs of FSX know what those "1"s actually refer to in terms of level of AA & AF?

I'm confused.

For now it's staying in Use Application setting.

[austerdriver]

In FSX I had the same problem as you. Didn't touch any of the setting in the Catalyst controller program. Wasn't going to touch anything in case I did something wrong.

In FS2004 though, I don't have this problem.
http://www.hosted.classicbritishfiles.c ... ami748.jpg

[Garry Russell]

Hi AD

How jagged depends on the angle

You 748 shows jaggies on the aerial wire which is a different angle to the stripe

To compare you really need to take shots at comparison angles

[austerdriver]

I didn't see those jaggies Garry. FSX was like that for me anyway.

[basys]

Hi Folks

The official recommendation is
that FSX should control the settings, (i.e. application controlled)
for all video card types.

Seemingly its 100% applicable to ATI/ASUS cards.

However
some NVidia users claim better results
with NVidia controlled settings.

Though that's those very same users
who also claim "unlimited FPS" settings give better performance.

HTH
ATB
Paul

[DarrenL]

Thanks for that, I'll have to remember to manually change it for each game I run. The ATI profile thing that supposedly lets you set the settings for each game never seems to work for me.

[austerdriver]

Hi AD

How jagged depends on the angle

You 748 shows jaggies on the aerial wire which is a different angle to the stripe

To compare you really need to take shots at comparison angles

I had a look today in my settings for my card and found the AA settings and changed it. No more jagged edges on my aircraft. Much better looking now.