Anti Aliasing Test on Anycubic Photon Mono 2

Hello everyone.

Recently I was wondering if such layering is normal for photopolymer printing:

The main points in the comments on the forums were:

1. This is normal; either the model itself is curvy or its positioning is wrong, etc.;

2. The model should be sanded or primed to improve its look;

3. It is worth trying to play with AA (Anti Aliasing).

At the same time, the views on point 3 are quite opposite:

1. Unlike Phrozen, in case with Anycubics, AA is nothing more than a marketing trick that does not work;

2. With the new models, native slicer, and fresh firmware, it works.

I decided to check it out for my own experience, so here is my small comparison test for your attention.

First, the initial premises found online:

1. AA depends on illumination and requires more time than normal printing — with short illumination, half of the manufacturer’s printers ignore AA settings; I slightly increased the time (from 2.25s to 3s), so I don’t know how true this is; 

2. For Anycubics, AA only works when using the native slicer (Workshop) — not true, I sliced in Chitu and there is an effect;

3. Using AA kills fine detail. See the results of test #4.

Now, let’s move on to the test. The purpose is to show the result of a simple experiment without going into theory and technical details. 

The test model was printed on Anycubic Photon Mono 2 with 0.035 mm layer of Anycubic Standard transparent green resin with the following settings:

The test model represents a simple highly polygonal sphere with a diameter of 2 cm. The sphere is lightly primed for better detail.

Test #1. АА off.

The result can be seen in the picture:

There’s a reason for the original question — concentric circles all over the surface.

Test #2. АА level = 4, Gray level = 1.

Here we see some changes:

The layers are still visible on top; as for concentric circles, they can be seen on the side surfaces close to the top point of the sphere, but not on the far sides. Only a slight horizontal layering is observed. Let’s move on.

Test #3. AA level = 8, Gray level = 1.

Here the result is even better:

Even at the top the layers are almost barely recognizable, while the side surface is almost perfect. I was satisfied with this variant and stopped with my experiments. Each sphere was printed for almost three hours, which was just too much. And now to the question of details.

Test #4. Small details on a complex surface.

The first photo: AA turned off, only I don’t remember the exact layer height, probably 0.05 instead of 0.035:

The layers can be seen quite well, unlike the rivets on the side of the helmet visor. I even thought about redoing the original model. Now look at the result with AA = 8 GL = 1:

The layers are indistinguishable, while detailing has become much clearer. 

My conclusion is that AA in Photon Mono 2 definitely works, and not only in the native slicer but also in Chitu (I have version 1.9.5), fine details do not suffer. I hope my modest experience will be useful to someone.

This article was originally written by Lenny314, published at 3dtoday.ru, translated by the Top 3D Shop team.