FSAA, Eh? What's that?

AA (AntiAliasing) isn't new to computer graphics; it's been around since the beginning of photo editors and will be around until the end of days (No not the film, bah). It's a method by which you can smooth off the pixelated edges of an object, be it a 3D or 2D one. By doing this you 'in theory' give the object a smooth and much clearer appearance, in 2D that's exactly what happens.

AA's only draw back is that it takes up quite a lot of processor power, what may seem common and simple to you and I is actually quite a task for your common computer. So when 3dfx hyped up their next chipset as having FSAA, people obviously began to sit up and take note. It would seem that 3D Chipsets have finally advanced to the state where they can calculate 3D real-time scenes with the addition of FSAA at minimal frame loss.

The instant such news was brought to light people began prophesising just what this new technology (actually quite old) could do for the modern computer game. Now games would be clearer, have no jagged edges and seem so much more realistic, however the truth isn't quite so grand.

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