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Color & Calibration

Greyscale & Banding Test

Smooth gradient and 32-step ramp to reveal color banding.

▶ Start full-screen testSmooth gradient← / → or tap the sides to switch · Esc to exit

How to use

  1. 1Click Start to view the gradient full-screen.
  2. 2Use ← / → to switch between the smooth gradient and the 32-step ramp.
  3. 3Look for visible bands or abrupt jumps instead of a smooth transition.
  4. 4Press Esc to exit.

FAQ

What causes color banding?

Banding appears when a panel can't render enough distinct shades — common on 6-bit + FRC panels, or from aggressive compression and low-bit-depth output settings.

What's the difference between the two frames?

The smooth gradient runs from black to white with no steps, so any bands you see in it come from your display chain. The stepped ramp splits the same range into 32 even blocks: each one should look like a distinct, neutral grey, including the darkest few.

Why do parts of the ramp look tinted?

A neutral ramp should stay grey from end to end. A green, blue or magenta cast in part of it points to the display's white balance or color settings, not to banding. Trying a different color preset or calibrating usually fixes it.

Tips

  • Step back from the screen — banding is far easier to see at a distance.
  • If the smooth gradient shows distinct bars, try setting your GPU output to full RGB and 8-bit+ color depth.

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Related guides

Learn more about what this test reveals and how to act on the results.

What Is Color Banding and How Do You Reduce It?Those visible steps in a sky or gradient have several causes. Learn which come from the panel, which from the content, and how to reduce both.Gamma Explained: Why Your Shadows Look WrongGamma controls how brightness is distributed between black and white. Here's how to check yours, why 2.2 is the standard, and how to set it.How to Calibrate Your Monitor Without a ColorimeterGet noticeably better color and contrast by eye using built-in OS tools and test patterns — no hardware required, and no guesswork either.Color Gamut Explained: sRGB vs DCI-P3 vs Adobe RGBWhat gamut percentages on a spec sheet actually mean, how sRGB, DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB differ, and which one matters for the work you do.