Yes, as i said: > There are, however, cases where GEOMETRY is very thin, and tends to shimmer no matter the AA sampling, very much like it would in real life (everything has a set resolution. a camera, the eye, you name it.), and then, and only then […] filtering is introduced, of the blurry/reconstructive type, and this purely because at rendertime we can do so sub-pixel, and with greater accuracy than post could.
The sharp edge to your highlight is correct, as it is correct that no AA amount should clean it: it is not the AA’s task (nor it could be, if you think at what AA does.).
That’s why compers get render elements, with separate reflection and specular, which they can treat with any filter they please (Glare, or Bloom, comes to mind. not gaussian blur. Try it, it’s in the VRay FB.), in the selected areas of super-bright pixels (which, again, is correct, and happens naturally with vision, or film.).
If i got compers overall blurry sequences with blurry alphas/MultiMattes to boot, and told them i did so to fix the highlights, they’d would not be amused one bit.
But as i said, if it floats your boat, feel free to filter your renders (well, unless you’ll ever happen to be one of the artists for which i TD, that is. Which is something i wouldn’t want to happen to my worst enemy… ;)).