The problem (as others have stated) is aliasing. The forms of anti-aliasing provided by Elite Dangerous are simply forms of blurring and not true anti-aliasing.
ED uses a "deferred" rendering (drawing) process that cannot be used with traditional forms of "true" anti-aliasing. Why do they use deferred rendering? It allows for multiple inexpensive lights, amongst other rendering efficiencies.
Upgrading to 4K will not fix it, even with 2x super-sampling; it can only reduce the problem somewhat. (First hand experience - I have a 4K monitor.)
The only reasonable solution is for FD to add "temporal anti-aliasing" to the Cobra engine (the rendering engine used by ED).
Until they do, we're stuck with the shimmering, crawling stair-steps. Even using a fancy post-process 3rd party graphic enhancement (like Reshade) cannot fix this issue.
For now, the best reduction in aliasing artifacts is to run 2x supersampling in-game or 4x SS in the NVidia graphic control panel. (Both are the same level of SS, FD is 2x X and Y, while NVidia went for a bigger number: 2x X and 2x Y, but these are identical, if confusing, settings.) Which to use? Try each one separately and pick the one which gives you the highest FPS. (There's a way show fps in-game, but I just use Fraps, a 3rd party program.)
I did try to get true "4x" SS, by enabling both in-game and NVidia SS, but the game hangs or draws a bunch of black textures.
If it really bothers you, there's one more thing to try: In-game, go to the graphics options and Enable "Reduce Camera Shake" (it's near the very bottom). It won't get rid of the crawlies but it will stop them from moving. I tried it for a while and then reluctantly disabled it again, since it greatly reduces the vibrations which add a sense of realism and worse still, caused me to get motion sickness when jumping between stars.
ED uses a "deferred" rendering (drawing) process that cannot be used with traditional forms of "true" anti-aliasing. Why do they use deferred rendering? It allows for multiple inexpensive lights, amongst other rendering efficiencies.
Upgrading to 4K will not fix it, even with 2x super-sampling; it can only reduce the problem somewhat. (First hand experience - I have a 4K monitor.)
The only reasonable solution is for FD to add "temporal anti-aliasing" to the Cobra engine (the rendering engine used by ED).
Until they do, we're stuck with the shimmering, crawling stair-steps. Even using a fancy post-process 3rd party graphic enhancement (like Reshade) cannot fix this issue.
For now, the best reduction in aliasing artifacts is to run 2x supersampling in-game or 4x SS in the NVidia graphic control panel. (Both are the same level of SS, FD is 2x X and Y, while NVidia went for a bigger number: 2x X and 2x Y, but these are identical, if confusing, settings.) Which to use? Try each one separately and pick the one which gives you the highest FPS. (There's a way show fps in-game, but I just use Fraps, a 3rd party program.)
I did try to get true "4x" SS, by enabling both in-game and NVidia SS, but the game hangs or draws a bunch of black textures.
If it really bothers you, there's one more thing to try: In-game, go to the graphics options and Enable "Reduce Camera Shake" (it's near the very bottom). It won't get rid of the crawlies but it will stop them from moving. I tried it for a while and then reluctantly disabled it again, since it greatly reduces the vibrations which add a sense of realism and worse still, caused me to get motion sickness when jumping between stars.
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