Banding
Display diagnostics render directly in-browser, so you can inspect real monitor behavior without installing anything.
Gradient Banding Test: Smooth Color Ramps, 8-Bit Steps, Dithering, And Display Band Detection
Inspect smooth gradients for banding, color stepping, and compression artifacts.
What this test checks
- Full-screen visual inspection
- Panel uniformity or color behavior
- Brightness and contrast visibility
- Compare Multiple Gradient Directions
How to read the result
Banding is primarily a visual inspection tool. Use full-screen mode, normal viewing distance, and a clean panel surface; persistent bands, tint shifts, glow, or missing pixels are more meaningful when they repeat across colors or brightness levels.
Display A Full-Screen Gradient Ramp
Gradient testing works best when the ramp fills the screen. This makes visible banding, color steps, posterization, and compression artifacts easier to identify.
Look For Hard Lines In Smooth Areas
A clean display should show gradual transitions. Obvious stripes can come from panel limitations, color depth settings, GPU output, HDR mode, or browser rendering.
Compare Multiple Gradient Directions
Horizontal, vertical, grayscale, and color gradients can reveal different problems. Testing more than one ramp helps users avoid judging the display from a single pattern.
Retest After Changing Color Depth
Users can retest after switching 8-bit, 10-bit, HDR, GPU color format, or monitor picture mode. Better settings should reduce visible gradient steps.
Related I/O Checkup Tools
What does Banding measure?
Inspect smooth gradients for banding, color stepping, and compression artifacts.
Do I need to install anything for Banding?
No. Banding runs directly in a modern browser. Some checks may ask for permission when they need camera, microphone, gamepad, pointer lock, touch, or audio output access.
Are results uploaded?
The test runs in your browser and uses local input events or browser hardware APIs for the visible diagnostics.
Why should I run related tests too?
Related tools help separate hardware issues from browser timing, display behavior, input device settings, or permission problems, which makes the final diagnosis more useful.
Detailed Testing Guide
Panel symptom
This display page turns the screen into a controlled inspection surface for a specific panel issue.
Start with a baseline run before changing device settings. Record any repeated symptom so the next comparison is useful.
Visual evidence
The useful evidence is visual: fixed pixels, glow patches, tone separation, color behavior, motion clarity, or gradient smoothness.
Watch Full-screen visual inspection, Panel uniformity or color behavior, Brightness and contrast visibility, Compare Multiple Gradient Directions. These observations come from the browser; they do not reveal hidden firmware or factory calibration data.
Viewing method
Use full screen, clean the panel, reduce reflections, and test at the brightness level you actually use.
Keep the test conditions stable. Changing browser, cable, port, lighting, surface, volume, grip, or selected device all at once makes the result harder to trust.
Result reading
Room light, viewing angle, HDR, color profiles, and browser chrome can make a normal panel look worse or hide a real issue.
A repeated pattern matters more than a single spike. When something looks wrong, confirm it with another pass and compare a related tool before deciding the device itself is defective.
Limits and next checks
Compare related display pages before deciding whether the symptom is pixels, backlight, contrast, color, refresh, motion, or banding.
For a closer comparison, try Dead Pixel Test, Backlight Bleed Test, Screen Uniformity Test, Refresh Rate Test. Keep the same device and connection while you investigate the next symptom.