Bandingilmiötä

Bandingilmiötä, known in English as banding or banding effect, refers to a visual artifact that can appear in digital images, particularly in areas with smooth gradients or subtle tonal transitions. This phenomenon manifests as distinct, parallel bands of color or brightness instead of a smooth, continuous change. It is essentially a limitation of the digital representation of color and tone.

Banding occurs when the bit depth of an image is insufficient to accurately represent all the intermediate shades between two distinct colors. For example, in a sky gradient, if there are not enough distinct tonal values available within the image's color depth, the software interpolates and creates noticeable steps or bands between the available shades. This is more common in images with 8-bit color depth compared to higher bit depths like 10-bit or 16-bit, which offer a much wider range of color information.

Factors contributing to banding include the original image quality, the processing applied to it, and the display device used. Images captured with low bit depth or heavily compressed formats are more prone to banding. During editing, aggressive adjustments to brightness, contrast, or color can exacerbate the issue. Furthermore, some displays may not be capable of reproducing the subtle gradations, leading to the perception of banding even if the image data is more accurate.

While banding can be undesirable, several techniques exist to mitigate it. Dithering, a process of intentionally adding noise or patterned pixels, can help to break up the harsh bands and create a more visually pleasing gradient. Using higher bit depth formats during capture and editing, and avoiding excessive manipulation in areas with smooth gradients, are also effective preventative measures.