Colour Banding
Visible steps in what should be a smooth gradient, caused by too few tonal levels to render the transition continuously.
Measured in
bits
In depth
Banding appears when heavy editing stretches a limited number of levels across a wide range — most often in skies, where a subtle gradient occupies few values to begin with. Working in 16-bit avoids it almost entirely, and adding a small amount of noise breaks the boundaries up enough for the eye to stop seeing them.
Examples in practice
An 8-bit sky pushed two stops brighter shows concentric rings around the sun that 16-bit editing avoids.