Introduction

"Antialiasing" and "Anisotropic Filtering" are two phrases which are often bandied about by gamers and 3D graphics enthusiasts with scant regard for those of us who didn't graduate from Geek High.

What are these mystical words which seem to make young geeks drool and put fear into the hearts of those with ageing hardware? If you think Antialiasing is a strong dislike of the Jennifer Garner TV series, and Anisotropic is a small region in the South Pacific then I think you might find this guide will help you more than you know.

There are already many, many guides and discussions on Antialiasing and/or Anisotropic Filtering available on the Internet - some of which are linked to in this guide - but to be honest I've never truly found one which is both straightforward and up to date. Within these pages lies absolutely no technical mumbo-jumbo, only simple explanations and a no-nonsense look at just what these graphical features really do for the average gamer, both in terms of image quality and performance.

Let's roll!