Can someone explain this?

[super bear]

Now I'm aware that that is a PC screen, (I took it) but I get the same effect in the console GTA games, and in GTA 4. Why does this happen?


AlMod Edit:
http://img509.imageshack.us/my.php?image=16xaf1li3.jpg

Sorry, I uploaded the wrong picture.

 

[Acert93]

Aliasing. The gate bars and such are just a flat texture applied to a transparency, so even if MSAA is enabled (which resolves some edge aliasing of polygons) the alpha isn't corrected. Newer GPUs can reduce aliasing in alpha layers through a number of techniques.

 

[psorcerer]

Aliasing.

Err...I think problem here is just a simple linear mip-map filter.
You need anisotropic filtering to do it better.

 

[jlippo]

Err...I think problem here is just a simple linear mip-map filter.
You need anisotropic filtering to do it better.

Actually those images look like there wouldn't be any mipmapping at all, or the mipmap is chosen badly.
AF makes things sharped when comparing to linear mip-mapping, texture sampling in the image clearly skips some of the texels.

Also the alpha test is the reason why we don't see any intermediate transparencies.

 

[galopin]

this is not full alpha blending, just alpha testing, and this sort of pattern (small white alpha in black regions) need that artist paint each mip himself. If it doesn't, alpha layer quickly got to grey level under the treshold.

Anisotropic can help, but it's first a resource's problem.