Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "robert49brake" 
<robert49brake@...> wrote:
>
> 
> I'd also be interested in hearing from others whether or not 
> the banding might just be inherent in the gradient structure of PS.

Robert.

I think you may have nailed down the problem in your post. I went 
back and looked at the targets more critically on-screen, and when i 
zoomed to Actual Pixels i could see the banding quite clearly. 
(Pretty much as clearly as i could see it in my prints.) 

Although it was less obvious, unlike you i thought i could see some 
banding in the linear ramp when it was also viewed at 100%. Thinking 
it might be less obvious simply because my linear ramp was narrower, 
i quickly made a full-page linear ramp, and on this image the banding 
was as clear as it was on the circular ones.

So it does seem as if the banding problem is something inherent in 
the way PS creates gradients. And in my view it occurs in both Radial 
and Linear Gradients. I'm surprised i never noticed this before, but 
i guess i just never inspected PS gradients on-screen at that 
magnification until now.

In fact, when i zoomed to 500%, i realised that the banding also 
occurs at a smaller scale as well, though this is not really obvious 
to the naked eye because the steps are only about half a millimeter 
wide.

Like you, i'd be interested to know if other people confirm what we 
think. I'd also be interested to know what people feel about the 
usefulness (or otherwise) of my test images, given this (fairly 
significant) drawback. If the test-files encourage people to see 
problems where there aren't any, it would probably be best to remove 
them from the site. (Who's going to remember this explanation in five 
year's time?)

Thanks for passing on the explanation, Robert. For the record, i'm 
using a calibrated LaCie Electron Blue IV CRT monitor.

Best.

graham