What is the difference between a Material using URP's PBR master node versus a traditional Unity Standard shader?

• A. URP uses Shader Graph or URP Lit shader designed for URP lighting, typically more performant and feature-limited; the Standard shader is for the Built-in pipeline and can be less efficient on newer pipelines.
• B. URP uses the Standard shader adapted for URP.
• C. URP cannot render lighting.
• D. URP uses only post-processing.

Answer: (A)

URP shading paths are built specifically for the Universal Render Pipeline, so materials intended for URP (via Shader Graph with a PBR Master node or the URP Lit shader) are authored to work with URP’s lighting calculations. This pairing is optimized for performance and consistency across platforms, delivering physically-based rendering that aligns with URP’s forward rendering and light types. The Standard shader, on the other hand, is designed for the legacy Built-in pipeline and isn’t optimized for URP’s lighting system. It can work in URP only through compatibility workarounds, and even then it won’t take full advantage of URP’s performance optimizations or feature set. In short, URP materials are built for URP lighting, offering better performance and predictable results, while the Standard shader is tied to the older pipeline and isn’t the right fit for URP.