Google Earth A to Z: Android, Antialiasing and Anisotropic Filtering
by Google Earth Blog on Jun.13, 2012, under 3D Models, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, California, Denmark, England, Germany, Google Earth News, Google Earth Tips, Google Sky, Google maps, Hawaii, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Natural Landmarks, Netherlands, Sightseeing, Street Views, USA
Android
Google Earth was first released for Android in early 2010. Since then it's gone through quite a few updates. It now supports KML files and even shows 3D buildings if your device is powerful enough! You can download it for free here on Google Play.
Antialiasing
Anti-aliasing is a technique used to smooth the edges of features in an image. In Google Earth, this is particularly noticeable on 3D models. For example, here is part of the Georgia Aquarium with Google Earth's Antialiasing set to "medium" on the left and "off" on the right. You can clearly see how much it improves the appearance of the building, though turning it off will help things to run a bit more smoothly. You can turn it off in the main [Tools] --> [Options] menu.
Anisotropic Filtering
Anisotropic filtering is one of those cool features in Google Earth that most people don't understand. In short, it helps keep things sharp when you're viewing imagery from a low angle. Here is an image from the anisotropic filtering Wikipedia entry, comparing it turned off (on the left) and on (on the right):
You can read this post to learn more about various settings available to you in Google Earth. Stay tuned as we work through the rest of the alphabet over the coming months.
(note: This series of posts was inspired by Android Central, who is running a similar series focused on Android. If you're an Android fan, go check it out.)