3D Concepts

The Catalyst™ Control Center uses real-time 3D rendered scenes to demonstrate the benefits of enabling advanced features of your graphics accelerator. As you adjust a 3D feature the real-time scene changes to demonstrate the new settings visually. The adjustments are applied to both Direct 3D® and OpenGL®.

Anti-aliasing

Anti-aliasing is a technique used to smooth out the jagged edges of three- dimensional curved objects or objects with diagonal edges.

Anti-aliasing can be set to favor either an increase in system processing performance or improved image quality:

Setting for performance is best used when the 3D image is animated and smoothness of motion is the most important consideration.

Setting for quality is best used when having highly detailed and realistic 3D objects is the primary concern.

If you are unsure of how to configure anti-aliasing, use the Let the Application Decide option. Your display will automatically adjust to the application's requirements.

Click the View button to switch to Advanced View.

From the Tree Menu pane, click on 3D > Anti-Aliasing to display the settings view.

Adaptive Anti-aliasing

Adaptive anti-aliasing is a technique that applies a combination of multi-sampling (MSAA) and super-sampling (SSAA) on 3D objects to improve edge smoothness and fine detail. This feature renders 3D objects containing transparencies more realistic, providing exceptional levels of image quality while maintaining performance.

Expand 3D in Advanced View.

Click Adaptive Anti-Aliasing.

Adjust the Adaptive Anti-Aliasing control slider to the desired settings.

Anisotropic Filtering

Anisotropic filtering is a technique that preserves detail on surfaces that have three-dimensional perspective and fade away into the background. It works best when used in conjunction with Mipmapping.

Anisotropic filtering can be set to favor either an increase in system processing performance or improved image quality:

Setting for performance is best used with applications that display objects with smooth, simple surfaces, such as those seen in CAD applications.

Setting for quality is best used with applications that display highly detailed scenes, backgrounds, and textured objects, such as those seen in 3D games.

If you are unsure how to configure anisotropic filtering, use the Let the Application Decide option. Your display will automatically adjust to the application's requirements.

Click the View button to switch to Advanced View.

From the Tree Menu pane, click on 3D > Anisotropic Filtering to display the settings view.

Catalyst™ A.I.

Catalyst™ A.I. makes use of ATI's new texture analyzer technology to optimize performance in 3D applications while maintaining or even improving image quality. It analyzes individual textures as they are loaded to determine the best and fastest way to display them.

Use the Standard slider setting to achieve optimal results without impacting performance. Use the Advanced slider setting to achieve even better results with minimal impact on performance.

Catalyst™ A.I. includes application-specific detection for various games and games engines such as Doom 3, the Half Life 2 engine, Unreal Tournament 2003, Unreal Tournament 2004, Splinter Cell, Race Driver, Prince of Persia, and Crazy Taxi 3.

Click the View button to switch to Advanced View.

From the Tree Menu pane, click on 3D > Catalyst™ A.I. to display the settings view.

Mipmap Detail Level

Mipmapping is a texturing technique that preserves the detail on a 3D object's surface as it moves into the background. A series of high- and low-resolution texture maps are stored in memory and selectively used to create the object's surface, depending on what level of detail is needed.

Mipmap detail level can be set to favor either an increase in system processing performance or improved image quality:

Setting for performance is best used when the 3D image is animated and smoothness of motion is the most important consideration.

Setting for quality is best used when high surface detail is required, especially if the animated object rotates or moves into the background.

Click the View button to switch to Advanced View.

From the Tree Menu pane, click on 3D > Mipmap Detail Level to display the settings view.

SmartShader™

SmartShader™ technology incorporates major advances in the area of pixel shaders, which are small programs that execute on every pixel rendered to the display device. With support for up to six textures in a single rendering pass, the memory bandwidth constraints associated with multi-pass rendering can be greatly reduced, which translates into better rendering performance. By doubling the maximum allowable length of the shader programs, more complex effects can be created to accurately model the visual properties of materials and surfaces, including hair, skin, wood, and water.

Click the View button to switch to Advanced View.

From the Tree Menu pane, click on 3D > SmartShader™ to display the settings view.