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I am experimenting with some image maps from Andrew Price's Poliigon site, I am comparing two colour images for the diffuse texture, a 1k and a 3k, but I can't see any difference, surely I should get better results with a higher resolution image:

The node setup:

node

The image texture size - this is for the 3k image:

texture settings

The render settings:

render settings

Output from the 3k image texture:

3k image

Output from the 1k image texture:

1k image

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Higher resolution texture would theoretically improve surface quality for closeups, in the sense that texture might look less blurry.

"Might", because if you are far enough from the mesh surface the difference will probably not be very noticeable and at lower resolutions it becomes harder to see. JPEG compression might also wash away some of the detail.

Besides you seem to be using a mix of 1k and 3k images in your node setup, which would further dilute any subtle effect it might have.

My guess is, for your use case and current rendering resolution 1k texture would probably be enough.

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  • $\begingroup$ Ah I didn't realise this, so if I have one image which is a lower resolution, it will affect any higher resolution image? $\endgroup$ – Neil May 28 '16 at 18:17
  • $\begingroup$ It might yes, depending on how you mix them. In your case you seem o be using a 1k texture as a mix factor for two shaders. It wont affect how sharp your diffuse 3k texture is but will slightly blur the line separating the two which may reduce the overall perceived sharpness. Your glossy roughness is also a 1k which would also further dilute the already subtle difference. $\endgroup$ – Duarte Farrajota Ramos♦ May 28 '16 at 18:24
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    $\begingroup$ As a rule use textures that are only as big as the size you need them on the screen. It is a matter of efficiency: to make rendering less resource hungry, use large textures only when you know they are going to be displayed in detail. There is no point of having huge image textures in something that on the screen is going to be a couple of hundred pixels wide. $\endgroup$ – user1853 May 28 '16 at 18:42
  • $\begingroup$ DuarteFarrajotaRamos - I tested using all 3k images on a close up, looks very nice thanks. @cegaton - thanks for the advice, I will make sure I only use high res where I need them and look to be efficient. $\endgroup$ – Neil May 28 '16 at 18:48
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    $\begingroup$ It is specially important to consider the size of the textures. Rendering large textures requires more memory and that might be an issue when rendering using GPU, as most graphics cards have limited vRAM $\endgroup$ – user1853 May 28 '16 at 18:54

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