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 |