High Definition Render Pipeline/Built-in Render Pipeline comparison
The tables that follow provide an overview of the Features that the High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) supports, compared to Unity's Built-in Render Pipeline.
Camera
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| HDR | Yes. The Built-in Renderer uses an HDR Texture Format. | Yes. |
| Anti-Aliasing | Yes. The Built-in Renderer supports multi-sample anti-aliasing (MSAA) for the Forward Renderer. If you use the Post-processing v2 package, this Render Pipeline also supports: •Temporal anti-aliasing (TAA). •Fast approximate anti-aliasing(FXAA). •Subpixel morphological anti-aliasing (SMAA). |
Yes. HDRP supports: •MSAA, for the Forward Renderer. •TAA. •FXAA. •SMAA. |
| Physical Camera | Yes. The Built-in Render Pipeline only uses physical camera properties to calculate the Camera's field of view. | Yes. HDRP uses physical camera properties to: •Calculate the Camera's field of view. •Calculate the exposure of the Scene. •Calculate the result of certain post-processing effects.. |
| Dynamic Resolution | ||
| Hardware | Not supported | Yes but only for consoles. |
| Software | Yes. Limited. | Yes. On all platforms. |
| Multi Display | Yes | Yes |
| Stacking | Yes | Not supported |
| Flare Layer | Yes | Not supported |
| Depth Texture | Yes | Yes |
| Depth + Normals Texture | Yes | Yes |
| Color Texture | Not supported | Yes |
| Motion vectors | Yes | Yes |
Realtime Lights
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Light Types | ||
| Directional | Yes | Yes |
| Spot | Yes | Yes. Supports the following shapes: •Cone. •Pyramid. •Box. |
| Point | Yes | Yes |
| Area | Yes. Supports the following shapes: •Rectangle. •Disk (baked only). |
Yes. Supports the following shapes: •Rectangle. •Tube. •Disk (baked only). |
| Inner Spot Angle | Not supported | Yes |
| Shading | Multiple Passes | Tiled/Clustered |
| Culling | ||
| Per-Object | Yes | Yes |
| Per-Layer | Yes | Yes |
| Light Limits | See Quality Settings | |
| Main Directional Light | 1 | Unlimited, but HDRP only supports shadowing for one Directional Light at a time. |
| Per Object | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Per Camera | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Attenuation | Legacy | InverseSquared |
| Vertex Lights | Yes | Not supported |
| SH Lights | Yes | Not supported |
Realtime Shadows
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Light Types | ||
| Directional | Yes | Yes, but only one at a time. |
| Spot | Yes | Yes |
| Point | Yes | Yes |
| Area | Not supported | Yes, but only for the Rectangle shape. |
| Shadow Projection | ||
| Stable Fit | Yes | Yes |
| Close Fit | Yes | Yes |
| Shadow Cascades | ||
| Number of Cascades | 1, 2, or 4 | 1 to 4 |
| Control by Percentage | Yes | Yes |
| Control by Distance | Not supported | Yes |
| Shadow Resolve Type | ||
| Lighting Pass | Yes | Yes |
| Screen Space Pass | Yes | Yes |
| Shadow Bias | Yes. Supports the following types: •Constant clip space offset. •Normal bias. |
Yes. Supports the following types: •Slope bias. •Normal bias. |
Batching
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Static Batching | ||
| By Shader | Not supported | Yes |
| By Material | Yes | Yes |
| Dynamic Batching | Yes | Yes |
| Dynamic Batching Shadows | Yes | Yes |
| GPU Instancing | Yes | Yes |
Color Space
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Linear | Yes | Yes |
| Gamma | Yes | Not supported |
Global Illumination (Back End)
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Enlighten | Yes | Not supported |
| Enlighten Realtime | Yes | Not supported |
| Progressive CPU | Yes | Yes |
| Progressive GPU | Yes | Yes |
Mixed Lighting
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Subtractive | Yes | Not supported |
| Baked Indirect | Yes | Yes |
| Shadow Mask | Yes | Yes. This is a per-Light setting. |
| Distance Shadow Mask | Yes | Yes. This is a per-Light setting. |
Global Illumination (Light Probes)
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Blending | Yes | Yes |
| Proxy Volume (LPPV) | Yes | Yes |
| Custom Provided | Yes | Yes |
| Occlusion Probes | Yes | Yes |
Global Illumination (Reflection Probes)
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Realtime | Yes | yes |
| Baked | Yes | Yes |
| Sampling | ||
| Simple | Yes | See Reflection Hierarchy. |
| Blend Probes | Yes | See Reflection Hierarchy. |
| Blend Probes and Skybox | Yes | See Reflection Hierarchy. |
| Projection | ||
| Box | Yes | Yes |
| Sphere | No | Yes |
| Proxy Volume | Not supported | Yes |
| Other Reflections | The Built-in Render Pipeline also supports screen space reflection. | HDRP supports the following other reflection methods: •Planar Reflection Probes. •Screen space reflection. •Ray-traced reflection. |
Global Illumination (Lightmap Modes)
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Non-Directional | Yes | Yes |
| Directional | Yes | Yes |
Global Illumination (Environmental)
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Source | ||
| Skybox | Yes | Uses a single sky to bake global illumination, otherwise uses sky settings per Volume. You can create own sky via script and Material. |
| Gradient | Yes | Uses a single sky to bake global illumination, otherwise uses sky settings per Volume. You can create own sky via script and Material. |
| Color | Yes | Uses a single sky to bake global illumination, otherwise uses sky settings per Volume. You can create own sky via script and Material. |
| Ambient Mode | ||
| Realtime | Yes | Yes |
| Baked | Yes | Yes |
Sky
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Yes | Yes. This sky type is deprecated, but you can still use if if you install the Procedural Sky Sample. |
| 6 Sided | Yes | Yes. The HDRI Sky supports cubemaps, which the Unity importer can build from 6-sided maps. |
| Cubemap | Yes | See HDRI Sky |
| Panoramic | Yes | Yes. The HDRI Sky supports cubemaps, which the Unity importer can build from panoramic maps. |
| Physical | No | Yes |
| Gradient | No | Yes |
Fog
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Linear | Yes | Not supported |
| Exponential | Yes | Yes. The Fog Override uses exponential fog. |
| Exponential Squared | Yes | Not supported |
| Local Volumetric | No | Yes |
Shaders (General)
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Shader Graph | Not supported | Yes |
| Surface Shaders | Yes | Not supported |
| Camera-relative Rendering | Not supported | Yes. See Camera Relative Rendering. |
| Standard Lit Shader | ||
| Metallic Workflow | Yes | Yes |
| Specular Workflow | Yes | Yes |
| Surface Type and Blend Mode | ||
| Opaque | Yes | Yes |
| Faded (Alpha Blend) | Yes | Yes. HDRP also supports premultiplied alpha. |
| Transparent | Yes | Yes |
| Cutout | Yes | Yes |
| Additive | Not supported | Yes |
| Multiply | Not supported | Not supported |
| Decals | Not supported | Yes. To create decals in HDRP, you can use a decal Mesh or a decal projector. |
| Detail Maps | Yes. You can assigned albedo and normal maps. | Yes. HDRP uses the mask and detail maps to combine maps such ask albedo, normals, and smoothness |
| Advanced Material Options | None | HDRP supports the following advanced Materials: •Anisotropic. •Subsurface Scattering. •Iridescence. •Translucence. |
| Surface Inputs | ||
| Albedo (Base Map) | Yes | Yes |
| Specular | Yes | Yes |
| Metallic | Yes | Yes. Uses the mask map. |
| Smoothness | Yes | Yes. Uses the mask map. |
| Ambient Occlusion | Yes | Yes. Uses the mask map. |
| Normal Map | Yes | Yes |
| Detail Map | Yes | Yes |
| Detail Normal Map | Yes | Yes |
| Heightmap | Yes | Yes. Supports both pixel and vertex displacement. |
| Detail Mask | Yes | Yes. Uses the mask map. |
| Light Cookies | Yes. Supports grayscale Textures. | Yes. Supports RGB Textures. |
| Parallax Mapping | Yes | Yes. Uses vertex displacement. |
| Light Distance Fade | Not supported | Yes |
| Shadow Distance Fade | Yes | Yes |
| Shadow Cascade Blending | Not supported | Yes |
| GPU Instancing | Yes | Yes |
| GPU Tessellation | Not supported | Yes. Uses the LitTesselation Shader. |
| Double Sided GI | Yes | Yes |
| Two Sided | Not supported | Yes |
| Order In Layer | Not supported | Not supported |
| Advanced Materials | ||
| ClearCoat | Not supported | Yes |
| Hair | Not supported | Yes |
| Fabric | Not supported | Yes |
Render Pipeline Hooks
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Camera.RenderWithShader | Yes | Not supported |
| Camera.AddCommandBuffer(Camera.Remove[All]CommandBuffer) | Yes | Not supported |
| Camera.Render | Yes | Yes |
| Light.AddCommandBuffer(LightRemove[All]CommandBuffer) | Yes | Not supported |
| OnPreCull | Yes | Not supported |
| OnPreRender | Yes | Not supported |
| OnPostRender | Yes | Not supported |
| OnRenderImage | Yes | Not supported |
| OnRenderObject | Yes | Not supported |
| OnWillRenderObject | Yes | Not supported |
| OnBecameVisible | Yes | Not supported |
| OnBecameInvisible | Yes | Not supported |
| Camera Replacement Material | Not supported | Not supported |
| RenderPipeline.BeginFrameRendering | Not supported | Yes |
| RenderPipeline.EndFrameRendering | Not supported | Yes |
| RenderPipeline.BeginCameraRendering | Not supported | Yes |
| RenderPIpeline.EndCameraRendering | Not supported | Yes |
| UniversalRenderPipeline.RenderSingleCamera | Not supported | Not supported |
| ScriptableRenderPass | Not supported | Not supported |
| Custom Renderers | Not supported | Not supported |
| CustomPass | Not supported | Yes |
| Custom Post Process Pass | Not supported | Yes |
Post-processing
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Implementation | Uses Post-Processing Version 2 package. | Native Post-Processing solution embedded in HDRP package |
| Ambient Occlusion | Yes. The Built-in Render Pipeline supports: •Multi-scale ambient occlusion. |
Yes. HDRP supports: •Ground truth ambient occlusion. •Ray-traced ambient occlusion. |
| Exposure | Yes. The Built-in Render Pipeline supports: •Fixed exposure. •Automatic exposure. |
Yes. HDRP supports: •Fixed exposure. •Automatic (Eye adaptation). •Curve Mapping. •Physical Camera settings |
| Bloom | Yes | Yes |
| Chromatic Aberration | Yes | Yes |
| Color Grading / Tonemapping | Yes | Yes |
| Depth of Field | Yes. This includes Bokeh. | Yes. This includes Bokeh. |
| Film Grain | Yes | Yes |
| Lens Distortion | Yes | Yes |
| Motion Blur | ||
| Object | Yes | Yes |
| Camera | Yes | Yes |
| Vignette | Yes | Yes |
| Panini Projection | Not supported | Yes |
CPU Particles
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Shaders | ||
| Lit | Yes | Yes |
| Simple Lighting | Yes. Uses Blinn Phong. | Yes |
| Unlit | Yes | Yes |
| GPU Instancing | Yes | No |
| Soft Particles | Yes | Yes |
| Distortion | Yes | Yes. This is available in Shader Graph. |
| Flipbook Blending | Yes | Yes. This is available in Shader Graph. |
| Trail | Yes | Yes |
GPU Particles with VFX Graph
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Integration with Vfx Graph | Not supported | Yes |
| Shaders | ||
| Lit | Not supported | Yes |
| Simple Lighting | Not supported | Yes |
| Unlit | Not supported | Yes |
| Soft Particles | Not supported | Yes |
| Distortion | Not supported | Yes |
| Flipbook Blending | Not supported | Yes |
| Trail | Not supported | Yes |
| Half-resolution | Not supported | Yes |
Visual Effect Components
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Halo | Yes | Not supported |
| Lens Flare | Yes | Not supported |
| Trail Renderer | Yes | Yes. You can also use the VFX Graph to create a custom trail effect. |
| Billboard Renderer | Yes | Yes, but only with the VFX Graph. |
| Projector | Yes | Not supported |
Terrain
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Shaders | ||
| Physically Based | Not supported | Yes |
| Simple Lit (Blinn-Phong) | Yes | Not supported |
| Unlit | Not supported | Not supported |
| Speed Tree | Yes | In research |
| Paint Trees | Yes | Yes |
| Detail | Yes | Not supported |
| Wind Zone | Yes | Not supported |
| Number of Layers | Unlimited | 8 |
| GPU Instanced Rendering | Yes | Yes |
| Terrain Holes | Yes | Yes |
2D
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Sprite | Yes | Yes |
| Tilemap | Yes | Yes |
| Sprite Shape | Yes | Yes |
| Pixel-Perfect | Yes. Using the standalone 2D Pixel Perfect Package. | Not supported |
| 2D Lights | Not supported | Not supported |
| 2D Shadows | Not supported | Not supported |
UI (Canvas Renderer)
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Screen Space - Overlay | Yes | Yes |
| Screen Space - Camera | Yes | Yes |
| World Space | Yes | Yes |
| Text Mesh Pro | Yes | Yes |
Ray Tracing
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Ray-traced Ambient Occlusion | No | Yes |
| Ray-traced Contact Shadows | No | Yes |
| Ray-traced Global Illumination | No | Yes |
| Ray-traced Reflections | No | Yes |
| Ray-traced Shadows | No | Yes |
| Ray-traced Recursive Rendering | No | Yes |
| Path Tracing | No | Yes |
VR
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Multipass | Yes | Yes |
| Single Pass (double-wide) | Yes | Not supported |
| Single Pass Instanced | Yes | Windows and PSVR only |
| Multiview | Yes | In research |
| Platforms | ||
| Oculus Rift | Yes | Yes |
| Oculus Quest | Yes | Not supported |
| Oculus Go | Yes | Not supported |
| Gear VR | Yes | Not supported |
| PSVR | Yes | Yes |
| HoloLens | Yes | Not supported |
| WMR | Yes | Yes |
| Magic Leap One | Yes | Not supported |
AR
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| AR Foundation | No | No |
Debug
| Feature | Built-in Render Pipeline | High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) |
|---|---|---|
| Scene view modes | Yes | Yes |