Gradient & Colour Banding Test.
Fill your screen with smooth greyscale and colour gradients to reveal banding — the tell-tale stripes of a 6-bit or 6-bit + FRC panel. Free, in your browser, nothing to install.
How the gradient test reveals banding
A gradient asks your display to draw hundreds of ever-so-slightly different shades in a row. A panel that can render enough distinct levels blends them into a seamless fade; one that can’t shows visible steps — that’s banding. It’s the quickest way to gauge a screen’s effective bit depth.
- 1. Go full screen. A gradient needs the whole panel to stretch the transition wide enough for banding to appear.
- 2. Start with greyscale. The black-to-white ramp is the most sensitive; look along the smooth middle for stripes rather than a clean blend.
- 3. Check each colour channel. The red, green and blue ramps show which channel bands worst — often the one your panel drives least smoothly.
- 4. Step back. Banding is usually clearer at a normal viewing distance than with your nose against the screen.
Bit depth: 6-bit, 8-bit and 10-bit
6-bit (+ FRC)
64 levels per channel. Budget panels fake more with FRC (rapid dithering), but gradients often still show visible banding.
8-bit
256 levels per channel — 16.7 million colours. The mainstream standard; gradients look smooth to most eyes.
10-bit
1,024 levels per channel — 1.07 billion colours. Used for HDR and pro work; gradients are effectively seamless.
Banding isn’t always the panel’s fault. A low colour-depth setting in your OS or GPU, an aggressive "vivid" picture mode, or heavy compression in the image itself can all cause it. Rule those out first — set the highest colour depth available and a neutral profile — then judge the hardware.
What your results mean
Match what you see in the gradients to what's causing it and what fixes it.
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Every gradient fades smoothly with no visible steps | The panel is rendering enough distinct levels — likely true 8-bit or better | Nothing to do. |
| Hard stripes in the greyscale ramp | Greyscale banding — often a 6-bit or 6-bit + FRC panel, or a low colour-depth setting | Set your OS/GPU to the highest colour depth (8-bit/10-bit) and re-test. |
| One of the red, green or blue ramps bands worse than the others | That channel has fewer effective levels — a panel limitation, not a setting | Confirm with the colour depth test. |
| Banding only shows up near the dark end of a ramp | Shadow detail is the hardest to render smoothly, and where crush shows first | Cross-check with the black level test's near-black steps. |
| Banding eases once you switch colour profile or turn off vivid mode | The picture mode or source was adding banding, not the panel | Keep a neutral profile and the highest colour depth for accurate viewing. |
Frequently asked questions
What is colour banding?
Banding is visible steps or stripes in an area that should fade smoothly from one shade to another — like a sky or a gradient background. Instead of a seamless blend you see distinct bands. It happens when a display can’t reproduce enough distinct levels to make the transition look continuous.
How do I test my monitor for banding?
Open a gradient full screen and look at the smooth part of the blend for hard edges or stripes. The greyscale gradient is the most revealing; the per-channel red, green and blue ramps show which colour channel bands worst. Step back a little — banding is often clearer from a normal viewing distance than up close.
Why does my screen show banding?
Most often because the panel is 6-bit or 6-bit + FRC rather than a true 8-bit or 10-bit. Fewer bits means fewer levels per channel, so gradients step instead of blend. Banding can also come from an aggressive display colour profile, a low colour-depth setting in your OS or GPU, or heavy compression in the image you’re viewing (not the screen’s fault).
Can I fix banding?
Sometimes. Make sure your OS and GPU are outputting the highest colour depth your panel supports (often labelled 8-bit or "10-bit / 1.07 billion colours"), turn off any dynamic-contrast or vivid picture modes, and use a neutral colour profile. If the panel itself is 6-bit, some banding is a hardware limit you can reduce but not eliminate.
Is banding the same as a dead pixel?
No. Banding is a smooth-gradient reproduction issue across the whole panel; a dead or stuck pixel is a single point that’s stuck off or on one colour. Use the dead-pixel test for individual points and this gradient test for banding and bit-depth quality.