Mobile Rendering Features

Learn about Unreal Engine's mobile rendering path and its support for graphics features.

Many mobile devices have significant hardware limitations compared with desktop hardware and game consoles, especially in terms of compatibility with graphics features. To address this, Unreal Engine has an alternate rendering path for mobile devices. This rendering path uses simplified or performance-oriented models for many of Unreal's rendering features, such as shadows and textures, and it removes many unsupported post-processes. The guides in this section provide details about configuration options and features in the mobile renderer.

The following links contain specialized topics in Mobile rendering.

Supported Rendering Features

This section lists features that are compatible with Mobile feature levels.

Post Process Volume

Feature

Mobile Forward (Open GL ES 3.2, Metal, Vulkan, Switch)

Mobile Deferred (Metal, Vulkan, Switch)

Mobile Forward w/ HDR Disabled (Head-mounted Mobile XR)

Lens

Mobile Depth of Field Properties

Yes

Yes

No

Mobile DoF - High Quality Gaussian DoF

Yes

Yes

No

Bloom - Standard

Yes

Yes

No

Bloom - Convolution

No

No

No

Chromatic Abberation Properties

Yes

Yes

No

Dirt Mask Properties

Yes

Yes

No

Lens Flare Properties

Yes

Yes

No

Image Effects Properties

Yes

Yes

No

Cinematic Depth of Field Properties

No

No

No

Exposure

Metering Mode - Auto Exposure Histogram

Yes

Yes

No

Metering Mode - Auto Exposure Basic

Yes

Yes

No

Metering Mode - Manual

Yes

Yes

Yes

Color Grading

Color Grading Properties

Yes

Yes

No

Film

Film Properties

Yes

Yes

No

Rendering Features

Post Process Material Properties

Yes

Yes

No

Ambient Cubemap Properties

No

No

No

Ambient Occlusion Properties

Yes

Yes

No

Global Illumination Properties

No

No

No

Motion Blur Properties

No

No

No

General Rendering Features

Feature

Mobile Forward (Open GL ES 3.2, Metal, Vulkan, Switch)

Mobile Deferred (Metal, Vulkan, Switch)

Mobile Forward w/ HDR Disabled (Head-mounted Mobile XR)

Anti-Aliasing

Fast Approximation Anti-Aliasing (FXAA)

Yes

Yes

No

Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing (MSAA)

Yes

No

Yes

Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA)

Yes

Yes

No

Temporal Super Resolution

No

No

No

Systems/Tools Features

Nanite Virtualize Geometry

No

No

No

Texture Streaming

Yes

Yes

Yes

Streaming Virtual Textures

Yes

Yes

Yes

Runtime Virtual Textures

Yes

Yes

Yes

Mesh Decals

Yes

Yes

No

Mesh Distance Fields

Yes

Yes

No

Level of Detail (LOD)

Hierarchical Level of Detail (HLOD)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Dither Fading

Yes

Yes

Yes

Visibility and Occlusion Culling

Cull Distance Volumes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Precomputed Visibility Volumes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Hardware (GPU) Occlusion Queries

Yes

Yes

Yes

Software (CPU) Occlusion Queries (Removed)

No

No

No

Lighting Features

Feature

Mobile Forward (Open GL ES 3.2, Metal, Vulkan, Switch)

Mobile Deferred (Metal, Vulkan, Switch)

Mobile Forward w/ HDR Disabled (Head-mounted Mobile XR)

Atmosphere and Fog

Sky Atmosphere

Yes

Yes

Yes

Volumetric Clouds

No

No

No

Exponential Height Fog

Yes

Yes

Yes

Volumetric Fog

No

No

No

Lighting and Shadowing

Dynamic Lighting

Yes

Yes

Yes

Precomputed/Baked Lighting

Yes

Yes

Yes

Image Based Lighting

Yes

Yes

Yes

Hardware Ray Tracing Features

No

No

No

Path Tracer

No

No

No

Virtual Shadow Maps

Modulated Shadows

Yes

Yes

Yes

Capsule Shadows

No

No

No

Contact Shadows

No

No

No

Precomputed Translucent Shadows

No

No

No

Dynamic Translucency Shadows

No

No

No

Global Illumination

Lumen GI and Reflections: Software Ray Tracing

No

No

No

Lumen GI and Reflections: Hardware Ray Tracing

No

No

No

Precomputed / Baked Global Illumination

Yes

Yes

Yes

Screen Space Global Illumination

No

No

No

Standalone Ray Traced Global Illumination (Deprecated)

No

No

No

Reflections

Reflection Captures (Box/Sphere)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Scene Capture Cubemap

Yes

Yes

Yes

Scene Capture 2D

Yes

Yes

Yes

Planar Reflections

Yes

Yes

Yes

Screen Space Reflections

No

No

No

Standalone Ray Traced Reflections (Deprecated)

No

No

No

High Precision Normals

No

No

No

Reflection Capture Resolution

Yes

Yes

Yes

HDR Cubemap

Yes

Yes

Yes

Direct Specular

Yes

Yes

Yes

GGX Specular

Yes

Yes

Yes

Light Type and Mobility Features

Feature

Mobile Forward (Open GL ES 3.2, Metal, Vulkan, Switch)

Mobile Deferred (Metal, Vulkan, Switch)

Mobile Forward w/ HDR Disabled (Head-mounted Mobile XR)

Static Mobility - Light Type

Directional Light

1 directional light of any type

1 directional light of any type

1 directional light of any type

Sky Light

Yes

Yes

Yes

Point Light

Yes

Yes

Yes

Spot Light

Yes

Yes

Yes

Rect Light

No

No

No

Static Mobility - General Features

Indirect Lighting Intensity

Yes

Yes

Yes

Lighting Channels

Yes

Yes

Yes

Light Transmission

No

No

No

Light Functions

No

Yes

No

Static Mobility - Directional Light Features

Source Angle

Yes

Yes

Yes

Light Shafts

Yes

Yes

No

Modulated Shadows

No

No

No

Static Mobility - Sky Light Features

SLS Captured Scene

Yes

Yes

Yes

SLS Specified Cubemap

Yes

Yes

Yes

Specified Cubemap Resolution

Yes

Yes

Yes

Static Mobility - Point/Spot/Rect Light Features

IES Texture

Yes

Yes

Yes

Rect Light - Source Texture

No

No

No

Stationary Mobility - Light Type

Directional Light

1 directional light of any type

1 directional light of any type

1 directional light of any type

Sky Light

Yes

Yes

Yes

Point Light

Yes

Yes

Yes

Spot Light

Yes

Yes

Yes

Rect Light

No

No

No

Stationary Mobility - Dynamic Shadow Casting

Directional Light

Yes

Yes

Yes

Rect Light

No

No

No

Stationary Mobility - General Features

Indirect Lighting Intensity

Yes

Yes

Yes

Lighting Channels

Yes

Yes

Yes

Light Transmission

No

No

No

Light Function

No

Yes

No

Stationary Mobility - Directional Light Features

Cascade Shadow Maps

Yes

Yes

Yes

Light Shafts

Yes

Yes

Yes

Modulated Shadows

Yes

Yes

Yes

Stationary Mobility - Sky Light Features

SLS Captured Scene

Yes

Yes

Yes

SLS Specified Cubemap

Yes

Yes

Yes

Specified Cubemap Resolution

Yes

Yes

Yes

Stationary Mobility - Point/Spot/Rect Light Features

IES Texture

Yes

Yes

Yes

Rect Light - Source Texture

No

No

No

Movable Mobility - Light Type

Directional Light

1 directional light of any type

1 directional light of any type

1 directional light of any type

Sky Light

Yes

Yes

Yes

Point Light

Yes

Yes

Yes

Spot Light

Yes

Yes

Yes

Rect Light

No

No

No

Movable Mobility - Dynamic Shadow Casting

Directional Light

Yes

Yes

Yes

Sky Light

No

No

No

Point Light

No

No

No

Spot Light

Yes

Yes

Yes

Rect Light

No

No

No

Movable Mobility - General Features

Indirect Lighting Intensity

No

No

No

Lighting Channels

Yes

Yes

Yes

Light Transmission

No

No

No

Light Function

No

Yes

No

Movable Mobility - Directional Light Features

Cascade Shadow Maps

Yes

Yes

Yes

Light Shafts

Yes

Yes

Yes

Modulated Shadows

No

No

No

Distance Field Shadows

Yes

Yes

Yes

Movable Mobility - Sky Light Features

SLS Captured Scene

Yes

Yes

Yes

SLS Specified Cubemap

Yes

Yes

Yes

Specified Cubemap Resolution

Yes

Yes

Yes

Movable Mobility - Point/Spot/Rect Light Features

IES Texture

No

Yes

No

Rect Light - Source Texture

No

No

No

Material Features

Feature

Mobile Forward (Open GL ES 3.2, Metal, Vulkan, Switch)

Mobile Deferred (Metal, Vulkan, Switch)

Mobile Forward w/ HDR Disabled (Head-mounted Mobile XR)

Material Inputs

Base Color

Yes

Yes

Yes

Metallic

Yes

Yes

Yes

Specular

Yes

Yes

Yes

Roughness

Yes

Yes

Yes

Anisotropy

No

No

No

Emissive Color

Yes

Yes

Yes

Opacity

Yes

Yes

Yes

Opacity Mask

Yes

Yes

Yes

Normal

Yes

Yes

Yes

Tangent

No

No

No

World Position Offset

Yes

Yes

Yes

Cloth

No

No

No

Fuzz Color

No

No

No

Iris mask

No

No

No

Iris Distance

No

No

No

Subsurface Color

Yes

Yes

Yes

Custom Data 0—7

Yes

Yes

Yes

Ambient Occlusion

Yes

Yes

Yes

Refraction

Yes

Yes

No

Pixel Depth Offset

Yes

Yes

Yes

Shading Model

Yes

Yes

Yes

Clear Coat

Yes

Yes

Yes

Clear Coat Roughness

Yes

Yes

Yes

Backlit (for Hair)

No

No

No

Material Domain

Surface

Yes

Yes

Yes

Deferred Decal

Yes

Yes

No

Light Function

No

Yes

No

Volume

No

No

No

Post Process

Yes

Yes

No

User Interface

Yes

Yes

Yes

Virtual Texture

No

No

No

Shading Model

Unlit

Yes

Yes

Yes

Default Lit

Yes

Yes

Yes

Subsurface

Yes

Yes

Yes

Preintegrated Skin

Yes

Yes

Yes

Clear Coat

Yes

Yes

Yes

Subsurface Profile

Yes

Yes

Yes

Two Sided Foliage

No

No

No

Hair

No

No

No

Cloth

No

No

No

Eye

No

No

No

Single Layer Water

Yes

Yes

Yes

Thin Translucent

No

No

No

From Material Expression

Yes

Yes

Yes

Decals

Translucent

Yes

Yes

No

Normal

No

Yes

No

Emissive

Yes

Yes

No

DBuffer Translucent Color, Normal, Roughness

No

Yes

No

DBuffer Translucent Color

No

Yes

No

DBuffer Translucent Color, Normal

No

Yes

No

DBuffer Translucent Normal

No

Yes

No

DBuffer Translucent Normal, Roughness

No

Yes

No

DBuffer Translucent Roughness

No

Yes

No

Alpha Composite (Premultiplied Alpha)

Yes

Yes

No

Ambient Occlusion

No

No

No

Textures

Feature

Mobile Forward (Open GL ES 3.2, Metal, Vulkan, Switch)

Mobile Deferred (Metal, Vulkan, Switch)

Mobile Forward w/ HDR Disabled (Head-mounted Mobile XR)

Compression Settings

Default (DXT1/5, BC1/3 on DX11)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Normal Map (DXT 5, BC5 on DX11)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Masks (no sRGB)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Grayscale (R8, RGB8, sRGB)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Displacement Map (8/16-bit)

Yes

Yes

Yes

HDR (RGB, no sRGB)

Yes

Yes

Yes

User Interface 2D (RGBA)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Alpha (no sRGB, BC4 on DX11)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Distance Field Font (R8)

Yes

Yes

Yes

HDR Compressed (RGB, BC6H, DX11)

No

No

No

BC7 (DX11, optional A)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Particle Effects

Feature

Mobile Forward (Open GL ES 3.2, Metal, Vulkan, Switch)

Mobile Deferred (Metal, Vulkan, Switch)

Mobile Forward w/ HDR Disabled (Head-mounted Mobile XR)

Niagara Particle System

CPU Particles

Yes

Yes

Yes

CPU Particle Collision

Yes

Yes

Yes

GPU Particles

Yes

Yes

Yes

GPU Depth Collision

No

No

No

Mesh Particles

Yes

Yes

Yes

Beam Emitter

Yes

Yes

Yes

Ribbon Emitter

Yes

Yes

Yes

Anim Trail

Yes

Yes

Yes

Vector Field

Yes

Yes

Yes

Particle Lights

No

Yes

No

GPU Distance Field Collision

No

No

No

GPU Raytracing Collision (Experimental)

No

No

No

Fluid Simulation

No

No

No

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