An-isotropic Filtering
Vz58V explains that,
AF is a little hard to explain, but essentially it reduces weird effects with textures on flat planes as they get distant. Game textures are flat, so as you see them from a far angle, they appear to stretch. AF reduces this effect, usually by “flattening” these textures toward you as they get distant.
Depth of Field (DOF)
Vz58V explains that,
Depth of field is basically distance-based blur meant to simulate your eyes focusing of objects based upon their physical distance. It looks pretty, but its very intensive and you don’t really need it.
Tessellation
Vz58V explains that,
Tessalation is, again, hard to explain, but its a way to make textured surfaces “pop” by changing the texture based upon what angle you’re looking from to give the illusion of depth. Remember the bullet holes from Fallout New Vegas? That was tessalation.
Ambient Occlusion
Vz58V explains that,
AO adds shading effects to 3D objects based upon how close they are, such as two sides of a corner. Again, like DOF, its pretty, but not necessary.
He then goes onto explain how to optimize your settings in a simple hierarchy,
To recap:
What you pretty much need: FOV, Textures.
What you want: AA, No screen tear, An-isotropic Filtering.
What you really don’t absolutely need: DOF, Tessellation, Ambient Occlusion, Ubisoft.
If this guide helped you at all then make sure to thanks its creator, Vz58V.