Color Depth Issue

[MC5E70]

 

Hello,

I choose 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit as saving options but when I go to the saved file properties, it shows me that is is saved as 24-bit. I do not want sudden color transitions, I want smooth color transitions as I want to use the picture I am working on right now as my wallpaper. I will try to attach a sample picture below to help you understand the issue better.

As you can see below, purple to black color transition is sudden and not smooth, it looks smooth when I open it in PS, but when I save it, I screw it up, I hope you guys can help me save it smoother and much more correctly.

Thank You.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

»I choose 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit as saving options«

Whar do you mean? 

What are the actual image’s Color Mode and bit depth (Image > Mode > …)?

Could you please post screenshots with the pertinent Panels (Toolbar, Layers, Options Bar, …) visible? 

[MC5E70]

Well, RGB and 16-bit options are ticked.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

I asked you about the saving process and for screenshots. 

[D Fosse · Accepted solution]

First of all, save your original as 16 bit PSD or TIFF. "24 bit" is just 8 bit expressed as 8+8+8+8 = 24. The fourth is the alpha channel.

What you're seeing is banding, and banding happens in 8 bit color depth because there are only 256 discrete steps from 0 to 255 per channel.

Your display pipeline is 8 bit regardless of the image itself. So you will always see 8 bit banding on screen. Always. The only way to avoid it is to buy a 10 bit-capable monitor/video card.

To hide it, introduce a tiny bit of noise in the image. Not much, just enough to break up the banding.

The jpeg file format specification only supports 8 bit. If you want to retain 16 bit depth you need to use TIFF or PNG.

[MC5E70]

Saving it as PNG fixed the problem, who would have thought?

Thank you so much for the answer.

Have a wonderful day.