Color banding and gradient test
Smooth gradients are the hardest thing for a display to render. Where a screen runs out of steps you see stripes instead of a smooth fade. This shows grayscale and per-channel gradients so you can find where yours gives up.
The test
This test needs JavaScript to run. Everything below still explains what to look for and what a bad result means, so the page is useful either way.
Six gradients
Grayscale, then red, green and blue individually, then a dark gradient where banding shows worst. Step through with the arrow keys and look for stripes rather than a smooth fade.
How to read it
The panel and the pipeline are handling gradients well.
Very common, including on good screens. Dark gradients are where 8-bit runs out of steps first.
Strong banding. Often the picture processing rather than the panel, so try switching off dynamic contrast and noise reduction.
Points at the panel or the signal chain rather than the source, particularly if the other channels are smooth.
What this test can and cannot tell you
This one is easy to over-interpret. The honest limits:
Yes, clearly. If you can see stripes here, you will see them in real content with skies, sunsets and studio backdrops.
This test cannot prove it. Banding depends on the panel, the processing and the browser pipeline together. A 10-bit panel fed 8-bit data through a TV browser will band anyway. Anyone claiming to detect bit depth from a web page is guessing.
Narrowed down, not pinpointed. If switching off dynamic contrast and noise reduction fixes it, it was processing. If it survives every setting change, it is the panel or the pipeline.
It is an 8-bit path in practice. TV browsers generally render and present 8-bit. So this shows how your screen handles an 8-bit gradient, which is exactly what most streaming content is anyway.
Only side by side, same room. Banding perception depends heavily on ambient light and viewing distance. Judging from memory, or from a photograph, is unreliable.
What causes banding
Not enough steps
An 8-bit channel has 256 levels. Stretched across a large smooth sky, the jump between neighbouring levels becomes visible as a stripe. 10-bit has 1024 levels and hides it far better.
Picture processing
Dynamic contrast, black level adjustment and noise reduction all rewrite pixel values. Each can turn a smooth gradient into a stepped one. This is the most common fixable cause.
The content itself
A lot of streaming video is heavily compressed and arrives already banded. If a specific film bands but these patterns do not, the source is the problem and no TV setting will fix it.
What to try first
Switch off noise reduction, dynamic contrast and any smoothing, then look again. If the gradients clean up, leave those settings off. They cost more than they give.
Questions people ask
What is color banding?
Banding is when a smooth gradient renders as a series of visible stripes instead of a continuous fade. It happens where the display or the signal runs out of distinct steps between two shades, so neighbouring bands become individually visible.
Is a little banding normal?
Yes, particularly in very dark gradients. Most consumer content is 8-bit, which gives 256 levels per channel, and that is simply not enough to render a large dark sky perfectly smoothly. Faint stripes in the darkest section are common even on good screens.
Can this tell me if my TV is 8-bit or 10-bit?
No, and we will not pretend otherwise. What you see is the result of the panel, the TV processing and the browser pipeline combined. A 10-bit panel fed 8-bit data through a TV browser will band anyway. Bit depth is on the specification sheet, not in a web page.
How do I reduce banding on my TV?
Start by switching off noise reduction, dynamic contrast, and any feature with smooth or dynamic in the name. These rewrite pixel values and are the most common cause of banding that was not in the source. Some TVs also have a gradation or smooth gradient setting that genuinely helps.
Why does Netflix band but these patterns look fine?
Then the banding is in the content, not your screen. Heavily compressed streaming video often arrives already banded, especially in dark scenes at lower bitrates. No television setting can restore detail that was thrown away before it reached you.
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