Gradient & Banding Test

Check that your screen shows colours smoothly, and can tell the darkest and brightest shades apart.

  1. Turn off night light or blue-light filters for now.
  2. Pick a pattern and go full screen for the clearest view.
  3. Look for stripes in the ramps and missing squares in the steps.

Use full screen and turn the lights down

Reflections and nearby page content make subtle shades harder to judge. Full screen gives the most accurate view; press Esc to leave it.

How the gradient test works

The ramps fade smoothly from black to full colour. A good screen shows a seamless blend; if you see distinct stripes or steps, that's banding, caused by a panel or connection that can't show enough shades, or by heavy image processing in the screen's settings.

The step patterns show squares that are only slightly lighter (or darker) than their neighbours. On a well-adjusted screen you should be able to pick out most of them. If several squares at the dark end all look pure black, your screen is "crushing" shadow detail; if the bright end all looks pure white, highlights are being clipped.

Seeing banding or missing steps?

  1. Reset the screen's picture settings. Dynamic contrast, sharpness and "vivid" modes often cause banding.
  2. Adjust brightness if dark steps vanish, and contrast if bright steps vanish.
  3. Check the colour format. In your graphics settings, use full RGB and the highest colour depth your screen supports.
  4. Turn off night light and similar filters, which reduce the number of shades available.

Frequently asked questions

Is a little banding normal?

Yes. Many screens use 8 bits per colour, which can show faint steps in very smooth ramps, especially in the darkest tones. Obvious, wide stripes are the problem to look for.

Where can I check my colour depth?

The screen info page shows the colour depth your browser reports.