Color Gradient & 256-Step Banding Tester
Evaluate your display panel's bit depth and tonal linearity. Inspect shadow quantization steps, detect color posterization, and use the interactive 4x loupe to identify temporal FRC dithering.
Color Gradient & 256-Step Banding Tester
Detect color posterization, tone crushing in dark shadows, and evaluate 6-bit vs 8-bit vs 10-bit color transition smoothness.
True 8-bit vs 6-bit+FRC
Many budget high-refresh monitors use 6-bit panels that simulate 8-bit color using temporal dithering (FRC). In the Grayscale test, look closely or move the 4x loupe: if you see flickering pixel noise in dark tones, your monitor uses FRC dithering.
Near-Black Color Crush
VA panels and miscalibrated OLEDs frequently crush steps 0 through 16 into solid black. In 256-step mode, verify that the first few dark steps remain clearly separated from absolute black.
Posterization & Vertical Banding
If you see abrupt jagged vertical stripes or false-color staircases instead of silky-smooth transitions, GPU compression, HDMI/DisplayPort limited range (16-235), or aggressive monitor overdrive is distorting the signal.
How to Interpret Gradient Banding & Bit Depth
1What is color banding (posterization)?
Color banding occurs when a display or graphics driver cannot produce a continuous, smooth transition between adjacent shades of the same color. Instead of a seamless fade from black to white, the screen reveals discrete vertical steps or harsh lines, especially noticeable in sunset skies or dark video scenes.
26-Bit+FRC vs Native 8-Bit vs 10-Bit
Budget gaming monitors frequently use 6-bit panels (64 shades per channel = 262,144 colors) with Frame Rate Control (FRC) temporal dithering to mimic 16.7 million colors. High-end content creation displays use native 10-bit panels (1,024 shades per channel = 1.07 billion colors) for mathematically clean transitions.
3Full Range vs Limited Range (0-255 vs 16-235)
If your monitor is connected via HDMI, Windows or your GPU driver (Nvidia Control Panel / AMD Adrenalin) may misidentify the screen as a TV and restrict output to "Limited RGB (16-235)". This violently crushes blacks and clips highlights. Always ensure "RGB Full (0-255)" is selected.
4Using the 4x Dither Loupe
Move your mouse cursor across the stage to open the real-time 4x magnifying loupe. If pixels flicker rapidly or arrange themselves in checkerboard dither patterns to bridge tone steps, your panel is relying on temporal noise dithering rather than native bit-depth.