Banding when using the gradient tool and with jpeg export @100% quality

[David Eichler]

I am seeing banding when using the Lightroom gradient tool. Example attached. The original file was done with a solid color fill layer in Photoshop, with the gradient applied in LR3.

Also, I am sometimes seeing banding in blue skies when exporting jpegs from LR3, at high quality settings including 100% quality. If I export the file from LR as a
Tiff and then convert to jpeg in Photoshop, I do not see the banding. The original file is always either RAW or a 16 bit uncompressed Tiff. The banding is a slight posterization, not the same as with the gradient tool.

Any ideas or suggestions?

[SparkyF986]

I had a similar problem a while ago and nailed it down to the inferior monitor that I was using then (I suspect that it only used 6-bits per channel not the normally expected 8-bits).  Even then, I only experienced it whilst viewing images in Photoshop (CS4), the same image viewed in LR3 did not show the banding.  Now that I have a better monitor, I do not see the banding on these same photos in either location.  Incidentally, I do not see any banding on the sample that you provide.  So, could your monitor be the problem?   I have heard of other people adding small amounts of noise to the gradient-treated area to (apparently) nullify or reduce the issue.

[roskav]

Add noise