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DanPower
Participant
June 29, 2026
Answered

Very bad banding since the latest update

  • June 29, 2026
  • 4 replies
  • 111 views

Updated photoshop to 27.8 and the banding on gradients is really bad, PS27.7 was absolutely fine.

Attached is a screenshot of PS27.7 alongside PS27.8.

You can see clearly the banding, this has only happened because of the update, not anything that I have done.

Anyone else had this issue? As I can't seem to find a solution online.

 

    Correct answer displaystar

    Was having the same issue with very bad gradient banding in 27.8 (and 27.9 beta).  Initially had to downgrade back to 27.7 to fix the issue.  After reading some suggestions online,  I was able to turn off ‘Precise Color Management for HDR display’ (must quit and relaunch after) under the ‘Technology Previews’ setting, and it seemed to resolve the issue in 27.8 so far.

    [Mac Studio M1 Max, OS Tahoe 26.5.1, Apple Studio Display with default Apple Display Profile]

    4 replies

    albertos23258106
    albertos23258106
    Participant
    July 8, 2026

    Hello,

    I am experiencing a severe canvas rendering bug after updating to Photoshop 27.8 on macOS. Dark gradients, shadows, and color transitions appear heavily posterized with blocky, jagged banding lines. Same issue with Photoshop Beta 27.9. Take a look at the two attached illustrations.

    Through testing, I isolated a critical detail: this visual banding occurs exclusively when working in CMYK mode. It affects the entire canvas view, including imported CMYK illustrations, photos, and embedded artwork, rather than just gradients drawn with the Gradient Tool. If I open the exact same file in RGB mode, or if I downgrade and open the CMYK file in version 27.7, the gradients render flawlessly.

    The only way to resolve the banding in version 27.8 is to completely disable "Use Graphics Processor" in the Performance preferences. However, this severely degrades application performance and disables essential GPU features.

    My System Specifications:

    • Photoshop Version: 27.8.0 - Beta 27.9
    • Hardware: Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB RAM)
    • Operating System: macOS Tahoe 26.5.1
    • Monitor: Occurs across all connected external monitors.

    It appears the new OpenColorIO canvas management system is failing to properly calculate the CMYK-to-RGB display conversion on Apple Silicon GPUs. I hope this specific detail helps the engineering team isolate the root cause for an upcoming patch.

     

    UPDATE:

    Today I’ve discovered another solution: in Photoshop preferences you can enable "Use Graphics Processor" but disable “Technology Previews / Precise color management for HDR display”. In this way no more banding issue.

    D
    displaystarCorrect answer
    Inspiring
    June 29, 2026

    Was having the same issue with very bad gradient banding in 27.8 (and 27.9 beta).  Initially had to downgrade back to 27.7 to fix the issue.  After reading some suggestions online,  I was able to turn off ‘Precise Color Management for HDR display’ (must quit and relaunch after) under the ‘Technology Previews’ setting, and it seemed to resolve the issue in 27.8 so far.

    [Mac Studio M1 Max, OS Tahoe 26.5.1, Apple Studio Display with default Apple Display Profile]

      D
      DanPowerAuthor
      Participant
      June 30, 2026

      Hi, this worked, thank you, is this my excuse to get a new HDR monitor now 😀

      D
      DanPowerAuthor
      Participant
      June 29, 2026

      Hey there,

      Thanks for replying.

      I’m using a Mac, Apple M2 Max 2023, OS Tahoe 26.5.1, Eizo CG247 monitor.

      I updated Photoshop to 27.8, saw this issue, then re-installed 27.7 and the issue went away.

      I haven't reset the preferences yet and it is happening on all images and layer masks.

      I opened an image in PS27.8, saved out a JPG, which looked bad, then opened that JPG in PS27.7 and it looked OK.

      The fact that it went back to normal after I re-installed version 27.7 tells me that the issue is with the update.

      It’s also happening with Photoshop Beta 27.9.

      Hope this info helps you.

      Spas K.
      Community Expert
      Spas K.Community Expert
      Community Expert
      June 29, 2026

      I see, can you check out this thread and the reply by ​@D Fosse and see if it helps? Seems others with a similar configuration have reported issues with banding and colors overall.

      Does it happen in both CMYK and RGB modes? Does disabling "Use graphics processor” in Performance preferences change anything? 

      D
      DanPowerAuthor
      Participant
      June 30, 2026

      Hi, I had a look at the settings and tweaked them, also turning off ‘Precise Color Management for HDR display’ worked, hopefully a combination of the two has sorted it, for now. Thanks for your help on this issue.

      Spas K.
      Community Expert
      Spas K.Community Expert
      Community Expert
      June 29, 2026

      Don't have this issue personally. Are you on Windows or Mac? Have you tried resetting preferences? Are the images identical after export / outside of PS? Is it happening on all files / images?

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