> Conventional ray-tracing is estimating illumination using a single sample across the entire domain, which constitutes a particularly crude approximation.
Straw man.
> Shadows have a hard edge, as only infinitesimally small point light sources of zero volume can be simulated
Uh, no. Raytracing can definitely have emitting surfaces and volumes.
> Reflection / Refraction can only simulate a limited set of light paths, for perfect mirror surfaces, or perfectly homogeneous transparent media.
You sure about that?
> More complex effects like depth of field are not supported.
https://www.povray.org/documentation/view/3.60/248/
Also, the title should get a "2019" tag.
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