VR vs SSAA vs MSAA?

[1Wolf]

Does SSAA work in VR?

The description of the option talks about a large GPU demand.  I was doing some VR testing and ran some benchmarks with MSAA set to x2.  So then I turned SSAA to 1.5x as well and re-ran my test.  I was surprised that the results were within margin of error.

I did some searching here on the forums and here and there I read reports that SSAA does not work in VR.  This would make sense with the results I was seeing.  However, those threads were a couple years old and so I wanted to post here and make sure this is still true.

I had recently picked up a 4090 so I have a little more horsepower to play with and was deciding which options I would turn up.  I'd always had SSAA, SSAO, and SSLR off so I was doing some experimenting.

Also, does anyone here run VR with any of those 3 options on (SSAA, SSAO, SSLR)?  Just wondering what they do in VR, if anything?

I tried SSAA with the results described above.  I couldn't tell whether it was actually doing anything or it was my imagination.  The fact that my benchmark results didn't change makes me believe it was just placebo effect and it doesn't do anything.

I tried SSAO and, while I've read the description on what it does, I'm not sure what to look for in VR.  That was a pretty decent frametime hit though.  Is anyone seeing anything in VR that is worth a 10% frametime hit?  (Thats what the hit is for my system).

I tried SSLR and was not flying a P-51 with shiny aluminum wings or anything, so I'm not sure what else it might effect in VR that I'm not seeing?

Thanks!

Edited February 26, 2023 by 1Wolf

[Dragon1-1]

SSAA is supersampling, basically. This specific setting doesn't work in VR, if you want to enable it, you have to crank up the resolution in the appropriate VR software.

I think SSLR is mostly reflections from water and wet Supercarrier deck. SSAO is ambient occlusion, and it's quite subtle most of the time. 

[Supmua]

SSAA is supersampling of the entire scene, costs a lot of performance.  Not sure this works in VR as we already have supersamplings via pixel density, Steam, OpenXR, etc.

MSAA (multisampling) is more economical vs supersampling and tends to work slightly better for edge smoothing.

SSLR, I think, is the same as SSR (screen space reflection) which improves/creates reflections of objects on ground/water surfaces but only in the area that you're looking at.

I get better water reflections in VR if water setting is high, but currently I'm using both water high and SSLR.  Not sure how well SSLR works in VR.

[Simultaneous]

No SSLR is not water reflections, those are determined by water quality.

 

SSLR is reflections on objects, most noticeably planes. For example if flying in formation you will see the landscape reflected on the underside of the other plane. Eg if flying over desert the underside will be orange, if over grass/forest it will be green, over water it will be blue. You can also see reflection of vertical stabiliser markings on the horizontal stabilisers.

When I turned this on I couldn’t believe what a difference it made to immersion - the setting I didn’t know I was missing. Can’t fly without it now, but I am in a squadron and flying in close formation all the time so it is really noticeable.