Color Banding Test — 6 Lossless GPU Gradients
Professional Banding Inspection
A professional banding test: six lossless GPU-rendered gradient modes with 0-64 adjustable levels help you separate true panel bit-depth limits from fake compression banding.
6 Gradient Modes
Gray, R/G/B channels, dark 0-51 and bright 204-255 target the banding-prone zones.
0-64 Adjustable Levels
From perfectly smooth to 64 visible steps — calibrate the limit of your eyes and panel.
Lossless GPU Rendering
Canvas band-by-band drawing, zero compression, zero dithering — what you see is the truth.
Why Banding Happens
Quantized Steps
With finite color steps, adjacent differences exceed the eye’s JND and smooth gradients turn into bands.
Dark Sensitivity
The eye is more sensitive to luminance changes in the dark, so the 0-51 range exposes banding first.
Fake Banding
Video/image compression strips high-frequency detail and fakes bands — never judge a panel by streaming video.
Three Steps to Check Banding
Smooth Baseline
Set levels to 0 (smooth) in fullscreen gray mode — any visible stripes are the panel’s true limit.
Dark-Range Attack
Switch to dark 0-51 — the banding hot zone where 8-bit vs 10-bit is obvious.
Find Your Threshold
Step down from 64 with ↑↓ until bands disappear — that is your perception threshold.
Bit-Depth Tiers
6-bit + FRC
Entry- · Bands even when smooth
- · Obvious dither noise
- · Cheap TN / laptops
- · Not for design
Native 8-bit
Mainstream- · Slight dark banding
- · Bright end smooth
- · Fine for daily & gaming
- · Most common
8-bit + FRC
Near 10-bit- · Close to 10-bit
- · Fine noise up close
- · Most “1.07B” panels
- · Semi-pro acceptable
Native 10/12-bit
Pro- · Smooth everywhere
- · Full 10-bit chain needed
- · Broadcast/grading spec
- · Costs much more
Pro Tips
Enable GPU Dithering
Dynamic dithering in NVIDIA/AMD panels visibly smooths 8-bit banding.
HDR Needs Depth
The PQ curve of HDR amplifies banding — 8-bit chains show stripes in HDR gradients.
Software Debanding
Players like mpv offer real-time deband filters to rescue banded video content.
Never Test with Video
Streaming banding is a source problem — only GPU-rendered gradients test the panel.
FAQ
Recommended Test Environment
- Dark room preferred — bands show better
- Brightness around 50%
- Disable HDR and dynamic color
- Confirm GPU depth & dithering
- Sit 50–70cm straight on
- Re-check the dark mode carefully