Banding issues in Camera RAW

[D_M__Photo]

Hello! I need some help with shadow banding I'm experiencing using Camera RAW. I've recording a screen-cap video demonstrating the error. Could you guys take a look at it and help me figure out what's going on? I'd really like to get this fixed. Thanks!

Photoshop RAW Banding Issue - YouTube

[Per Berntsen]

Until our color management expert D Fosse​ comes along, here are a couple of suggestions.

First, try to disable the GPU in Camera Raw in preferences (press Ctrl+K while in Camera Raw). Uncheck Use graphics processor.

Second, you seem to be using Monitor RGB as your working space - this is not something you should do, as it disables color management. Set it to a standard profile like Adobe RGB or sRGB, and set Color Management Policies for RGB to Preserve embedded profiles. Photoshop will display the image correctly even if the profiles don't match, and unnecessary profile conversions should be avoided, since you may be throwing away color information that cannot be retrieved once the conversion has happened.

[D Fosse]

Are you on Mac? Something along those lines happened with Lightroom 4 and 5 after a certain Mac OS version (can't recall which). It turned out to be Apple dropping legacy support for certain APIs or frameworks. No other option than upgrade or roll back OS. I assume the corresponding ACR versions would be similarly affected.

It's a lot easier if you just post screenshots BTW.

[Per Berntsen]

Yes, I agree that screenshots are much better.

Here's one from the video, banding/posterization in the boy's face.

And the OP is on Windows.

[D_M__Photo]

I'll keep the screenshots in mind.

If it helps, this is v. 19 of PS, running on Windows 7 with an Nvidia GTX 770.

I'll try Per Berntsen's suggestions when I get home from work tonight. Thanks for the help so far! I'll let you know how it turns out.

[D Fosse]

From the screenshot, this looks like excessive black clipping, with different clipping points in the three channels (hence the banding). This is a common symptom of a defective monitor profile. On Windows, this is the most likely explanation (but incidentally, this is how the MacOS/Lightroom issue looked also).

ACR is a special case because the data are converted from linear ProPhoto into the monitor profile. This is a more complex conversion than that from a standard working space profile.

There seems to be a lot of information here that you have to watch the full video to get.

[D_M__Photo]

Okay! I think I've got it sorted! D Fosse put me on the right path.

I updated my drivers, ACR, and turned off Graphic Processing in ACR preferences, but none of that did anything. I had to adjust my Color Management on my computer in order to get it to look alright. Looks great now! Thanks everyone!

[D Fosse]

So what did you do, exactly? There are lots of ways to mess up your color settings if you don't know what you're doing. Some of them may conceal the problem temporarily, only to come back and bite you later.

For the record, a calibrator is the proper way to make monitor profiles, and replace corrupt ones. If you don't have a calibrator, you can replace the bad profile with a generic one like sRGB IEC61966-2.1. This won't be entirely accurate, but should fix the immediate problem.

What you should never do, is disable display color management entirely. That's a disaster waiting to happen.

[D_M__Photo]

No, I didn't disable it. I have it set to a generic one. I also ran the calibrator. Either one looks okay to my eyes.

[D Fosse]

OK, good. Thanks for getting back