Anti-aliasing for Mac Pro (late 2013) running 4K display (scaled)

To my understanding, anti-aliasing settings are disabled in several circumstances to prevent crashes. I’m currently running a Mac Pro (late 2013) on a 4K monitor: anti-aliasing can be set up to 8x when the display is not scaled at 3840 x 2160 resolution. However, if the display’s UI is scaled (e.g. to “looks like 3008 x 1692”), anti-aliasing becomes completely disabled. What’s the reason behind this?

The rules are listed here. If these do not make sense, please post your Rhino information from About Rhinoceros > More info.

@ktsuyuki, I’m curious about your setup if you don’t mind me asking…

Which 3840 x 2160 UHD display are you using with your nMP? Screen size?

Are you getting “looks like 3008 x 1692” on that display by setting it one notch down? The setting between Best (Retina) and More Space?

How would you rate the clarity and usability (ppi) of such compared to a non retina 27" iMac @ 2560 x 1440 109ppi and a 30" Apple Cinema 2560 x 1600 100ppi?

I’m guessing a 32" UHD set to “looks like 3008 x 1692” should appear about about 108ppi when scaled?

Thanks!

Hello Marlin,

It looks like my system hasn’t violated any of those criteria. it’s not a retina laptop, I only have one display, and my GPU has more than 6144MB (AMD FIrePro). Here are my system specs—first is the info for the setting where AA is disabled, second is the info for when it’s enabled to 8x.

4K screen, UI scaled to “looks like 2560x1440”:
Software information

Software versions
Rhinoceros version: 5.0 WIP (5A751)
IronPython version: 5.1.2015.131
Language: en (MacOS default)
OS X version: Version 10.10.2 (Build 14C1514)

Plug-ins
None

Third party kernel extensions
com.driver.LogJoystick (2.0)
com.logitech.driver.LogiGamingMouseFilter (1)

Hardware information

Computer hardware
Hardware model: MacPro6,1
Processor: Intel Xeon CPU E5-2697 v2 @ 2.70GHz
Memory: 12 GB
Architecture: Intel 64 bit

Video hardware
Graphics: AMD FirePro D700 6144 MB
Memory: 6144 MB
Screen size: 2560 x 1440
Displays: DELL UP3214Q (186dpi 2x)

USB devices
Apple Inc.: Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Realtek: USB3.0 Card Reader
SMSC: USB5534B
Wacom Co.,Ltd.: Wacom Wireless Receiver
Microchip Technology Inc.: USB TO HID Ver.2.00
Logitech: USB Receiver

Bluetooth devices
Apple: Apple Wireless Trackpad
Apple: Apple Wireless Keyboard

OpenGL information

OpenGL software
OpenGL version: 2.1 ATI-1.30.5
Render version: 2.1
Shading language: 1.20
Maximum texture size: 16384 x 16384
Z-buffer depth: 24 bits
Maximum viewport size: 16384 x 16384

Implementation settings
Use texture compression: Yes

Appearance settings
Antialiasing: 0x
Mip map filtering: None
Anisotropic filtering: High

4K screen, native UI scale
Software information

Software versions
Rhinoceros version: 5.0 WIP (5A751)
IronPython version: 5.1.2015.131
Language: en (MacOS default)
OS X version: Version 10.10.2 (Build 14C1514)

Plug-ins
None

Third party kernel extensions
com.driver.LogJoystick (2.0)
com.logitech.driver.LogiGamingMouseFilter (1)

Hardware information

Computer hardware
Hardware model: MacPro6,1
Processor: Intel Xeon CPU E5-2697 v2 @ 2.70GHz
Memory: 12 GB
Architecture: Intel 64 bit

Video hardware
Graphics: AMD FirePro D700 6144 MB
Memory: 6144 MB
Screen size: 3840 x 2160
Displays: DELL UP3214Q (140dpi 1x)

USB devices
Apple Inc.: Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Realtek: USB3.0 Card Reader
SMSC: USB5534B
Wacom Co.,Ltd.: Wacom Wireless Receiver
Microchip Technology Inc.: USB TO HID Ver.2.00
Logitech: USB Receiver

Bluetooth devices
Apple: Apple Wireless Trackpad
Apple: Apple Wireless Keyboard

OpenGL information

OpenGL software
OpenGL version: 2.1 ATI-1.30.5
Render version: 2.1
Shading language: 1.20
Maximum texture size: 16384 x 16384
Z-buffer depth: 24 bits
Maximum viewport size: 16384 x 16384

Implementation settings
Use texture compression: Yes

Appearance settings
Antialiasing: 8x
Mip map filtering: None
Anisotropic filtering: High

@ec2638,

I’m using a Dell UP3214Q monitor, which is 31.5" at 140ppi. 4K resolution is only twice 1920x1080 (1080p), and the interface doesn’t actually list a native “Best (Retina)” UI scale option like what you find in the 5K iMac.

If the scaled options are chosen, the computer actually renders at double the “looks like” resolution (e.g. 2560x1440 is rendered at 5120x2880, then scaled down to 3840x2160)—it’s clear but still subtly obvious that there is something unusual happening.

For this screen to use the native (retina) UI elements, it has to be set to “looks like 1920x1080,” which makes everything uncomfortably giant.

Interesting to note: at this “retina” resolution, rhino’s viewports display lines at double their intended thickness: a 1pt line is displayed as 2pt. Both the UI and the viewports are increased in size, rather than just the UI elements. I hope they fix this in the future, though I suspect it might be Apple’s fault for implementing this weird voodoo scaling instead of just creating native-resolution UI elements for 4K.

1 Like

The anti-alias rules were created when Rhino users were plugging additional displays into the original retina laptops with 1 GB VRAM and then complaining about display artifacts when using 8x anti-aliasing. The overburdened GPU didn’t have enough memory.

I’ve added another rule for anti-alising restrictions: if you have 2 GB or more of VRAM, then there are no restrictions. This additional rule is needed for the GPUs available today. This will let you always have 8x anti-aliasing.

1 Like

Perfect! Thank you very much, Marlin!