SSAA

SSAA, or Super-Sampling Anti-Aliasing, is a rendering technique used to reduce jagged edges (aliasing) in raster graphics. It works by rendering the entire frame at a higher internal resolution than the target display resolution and then downsampling the image to the display resolution. Because each pixel on the display is formed from multiple samples taken from neighboring subpixels, edges become smoother and fine geometric details can be preserved.

Common multipliers are 2x, 4x, 8x, and sometimes higher, depending on hardware. The primary advantage is superior anti-aliasing quality across the whole image, including edges of textures and translucent surfaces, without relying on edge-only sampling patterns. The drawback is a large increase in rendering cost, memory bandwidth, and VRAM usage, since the GPU must rasterize a much larger image.

Compared with MSAA, SSAA tends to produce higher quality results but at a much greater performance penalty. Modern GPUs often favor MSAA or post-processing techniques such as FXAA or TAA for real-time applications. In practice, SSAA is most feasible for offline rendering or for users seeking maximum image fidelity and who can afford the performance cost, such as in high-end simulations or still-image rendering.

Historically, SSAA was common in earlier PC graphics hardware but has largely been supplanted by more efficient anti-aliasing methods in real-time applications. It remains a reference baseline for image quality comparisons and is sometimes selectable in older titles or certain rendering pipelines for authenticity or benchmarking.