Mastering Color Depth
The Banding Problem
Color Banding (or posterization) occurs when your monitor can't display enough shades to create a smooth gradient. Instead of a seamless transition from black to white, you see distinct "steps" or stripes. This is a common issue in 6-bit and 8-bit panels.
8-bit vs 10-bit
Standard monitors are 8-bit (16.7 million colors). Professional monitors are 10-bit (1.07 billion colors), offering 64x more shades. This test reveals if your "10-bit" monitor is actually using dithering (FRC) or true native color depth.
1. Choose Gradient Type
1. Video Editing & HDR
HDR content requires 10-bit color to avoid banding in skies and shadows. If your reference monitor has banding, you might wrongly apply de-banding filters to your footage, degrading the image quality.
2. Digital Art & Illustration
Digital painters need to know if the banding they see is in their artwork or just their monitor. This test gives you a "perfect gradient" reference. If you see bands here, it's your monitor, not your brush settings.
3. Gaming Immersion
Modern games use volumetric fog and dynamic lighting. On a poor monitor, these effects look like blocky, pixelated messes. High-quality IPS or OLED panels handle these subtle transitions much better than cheap TN panels.