Huge banding issue since 4.703

[Jeroen83]

Hi,

since 4.703 has arrived I have serious banding issues. In low light conditions i can make out only a few colors and at night the game consists of about a dozen shades of grey and is basically unplayable. 
i’m on a 1080, ryzen 5600x. I’ve installed latest nvidia drivers and now i’m reinstalling the whole game. I will post some screenshots tomorrow if that hasnt solved anything. Anyone else with this problem?

[AtomicP]

I've had banding problems for ages. I can play but it spoils the look of the game with the large bands in the clouds at low light. I run a 1060 and have messed about with as many settings as I can find. Doesn't seem to be a problem in other 3D games, just this one. I don't think I noticed it in DCS but will have to check again.

[Jeroen83]

Did anything change for you with the latest patch from yesterday? For me it was fine before, now not.

[Gora_]

Got the same problem. Im wondering is the problem connected with a specific HMD or monitoes... but I play on HP G2 which is one of the most popular VR now so it should be tested there, right? 

[Jeroen83]

 

This is what it looks like now. A constant "vignette" of banding. At night it's much worse, especially with HDR enabled: when I change view the HDR changes the brightness of the overall screen and it does with clear "steps", not smooth at all. I've re-installed the game, reset my NVIDIA settings, tried different graphics settings and resolution but the problem persists...

[1PL-Husar-1Esk]

Clouds banding is an issue for me , I don't like how it spoils the overall image,  extreme clouds settings do not work unfortunately.  

[FTC_horsky]

5 hours ago, 1PL-Husar-1Esk said:

Clouds banding is an issue for me , I don't like how it spoils the overall image,  extreme clouds settings do not work unfortunately.  

Yes +1, still an issue for vr users, can only speak for g2, don't know about other headsets. Was hoping when sky banding was announced to be fixed with new sky system that clouds also magically would be fixed ? even when not announced as a specific fix, one can only hope ? Haven't checked waterbanding on Kuban yet, maybe someone has if it still persists?

Them clouds looks the same as before, as in my previous post.
 

If playing SP then Lefunestes VR enchancer mod is your remedy.

[firdimigdi]

1 hour ago, SvAF/F16_horsky said:

Haven't checked waterbanding on Kuban yet, maybe someone has if it still persists?

 

Yes, the colour-banding on the surfaces of bodies of water - sea, lakes or larger rivers - is still present.

[56RAF_Roblex]

I cannot say I noticed any problems when I played last night. I use a Quest-2 with High Clouds. Nvidia 3070

Edited March 16, 2022 by 56RAF_Roblex

[Jeroen83]

This is what it looks like at my place. 

[A_radek]

Both in and index and, I even dug up the old cv1 to test, the cloud banding is very apparent in any other setting than blue sky mid-day. Those of you that can't see it.. c'mon guys.. https://tenor.com/view/bubbles-trailer-park-boys-tpb-gif-13253237

[FTC_horsky]

Some pics.

[Skydogg]

Vignette banding and cloud banding for me as well. Ryzen 2600x, RX 590 nitro

[AtomicP]

20 hours ago, SvAF/F16_horsky said:

Some pics.

I experience the same issue.

 

More generally, I don't know if it matters (I've seen some discussion on the Nvidia forums) but I run a 1060 6GB. I gather that AMD cards do some dithering on the output so that might be why some users don't experience this to the same degree. I know some folk will say it's down to the monitor, but as far as I understand it, screenshotting just grabs the GPU output, not what is present on the monitor so should be accurate to the system involved. In any case, my monitor is 10-bit (8-bit+FCR) so should be plenty good for colour accuracy.

19 hours ago, bpgpaul said:

Vignette banding and cloud banding for me as well. Ryzen 2600x, RX 590 nitro

Ah OK, so that nixes my understanding about AMD cards then!

On 3/16/2022 at 5:58 AM, Jeroen83 said:

Did anything change for you with the latest patch from yesterday? For me it was fine before, now not.

It's got more noticeable as the cloud technology has developed. It was annoying at dusk before we had fancy clouds so I tended to avoid these missions if possible. Once the cloud tech. got developed it became more noticeable over a wider span of the day.

[Guest deleted@134347]

can confirm banding indeed exists in low light/sky/night conditions.

 

amd 5900x

3090

Varjo Aero

[FTC_horsky]

I guess they could fix it quite easily, Lefuneste fixed it with his VR enhancer mod. Looks great, no banding on clouds, but sad part, mods on, no multiplayer ?

Edited March 17, 2022 by SvAF/F16_horsky

[SvAF/F16_Goblin]

Sorry to say I'm also experiencing banding in the clouds and also an even more disturbing fluctuating jaggedness that seems to correlate to the "circle" of rendering distance.

 

[1PL-Husar-1Esk]

Guys i have same banding in 2D as show of yours pictures.  I used to use HP reverb G2 .

@SvAF/F16_horskycan you check in 2d mode if the banding is visible as in VR ?

[Jeroen83]

2 hours ago, SvAF/F16_Goblin said:

Sorry to say I'm also experiencing banding in the clouds and also an even more disturbing fluctuating jaggedness that seems to correlate to the "circle" of rendering distance.

 

This is the vignette I think you're talking about. I succesfully eliminated that by using this mod:

 

I also installed the VR enhancement mod by Lafuneste and it totally eliminates the banding of clouds, which is very encouraging ! (because the problem can be defined apparently), but the banding of everything else in the sim is still present. I'm sure the developers will look into this and come up with a solution. Seems many people experience this problem. 

 

[firdimigdi]

1 hour ago, 1PL-Husar-1Esk said:

@SvAF/F16_horskycan you check in 2d mode if the banding is visible as in VR ?

 

Yes it is, regardless of graphics settings or preset used, you can still notice it especially in motions that change brightness (head movement or changing heading away/towards the sun/moon).

[SvAF/F16_Goblin]

1 hour ago, Jeroen83 said:

This is the vignette I think you're talking about. I succesfully eliminated that by using this mod:

 

I also installed the VR enhancement mod by Lafuneste and it totally eliminates the banding of clouds, which is very encouraging ! (because the problem can be defined apparently), but the banding of everything else in the sim is still present. I'm sure the developers will look into this and come up with a solution. Seems many people experience this problem. 

 

Unfortunately this is not an option for me since it blocks MP servers

[firdimigdi]

@SvAF/F16_Goblin
Isn't the "cinematic" checkbox in the camera settings the one controlling if vignette is visible or not? I seem to remember something like that.

 

Anyhow - for the people playing on monitors that are affected the most, could you please give a check to this stuff below? I wrote it up earlier in a thread in general discussion but thought that it might interest some here and it'll likely get lost in that thread:

 

Settings to check:

1. Make sure your monitor is operating at it's intended colour depth/mode - for a typical RGB PC monitor it is this (below in nVidia control panel, AMD drive has a slightly fancier menu nowadays):

If this is correct then you should be able to see this image perfectly, all colours and all text should be pixel-perfect:

https://www.rtings.com/images/test-materials/2017/chroma-444.png (if viewing in a browser make sure it is not being scaled and is displayed at 100% scale)

 

2. Press Win key and type in "Color Management" - here, if your monitor vendor provides a colour profile it would be good to press "Add" and point it to use that colour profile and check the "Use my settings for this device" checkbox. If not, then go to advanced and set all settings to "System Default":

 

3. If in the previous step you have resorted to the System Default setting you might also want to try setting the "Override to reference mode" option in the nVidia control panel:

 

[Uufflakke]

Besides the afore mentioned cloud banding I seem to fly in a circle of bands.

Wherever I look I constantly see the circles around me.

Which I never had before this patch.

 

 

[FTC_horsky]

9 hours ago, 1PL-Husar-1Esk said:

Guys i have same banding in 2D as show of yours pictures.  I used to use HP reverb G2 .

@SvAF/F16_horskycan you check in 2d mode if the banding is visible as in VR ?

I often edit il2 movies, so I spare a fair share of time on the screen aswell. It is not present in 2d on my system, only in VR.

[firdimigdi]

2 hours ago, Uufflakke said:

Besides the afore mentioned cloud banding I seem to fly in a circle of bands.

Wherever I look I constantly see the circles around me.

Which I never had before this patch.

 

 

Try disabling "Cinematic" in the camera options.

[Uufflakke]

49 minutes ago, Firdimigdi said:

Try disabling "Cinematic" in the camera options.

 

Thank you.

Дякую

 

Circles around me disappeared after disabling 'Cinematic'.

However, cloud issue like SvAF/F16_horsky   showed in screenshots are still there.

(All mods disabled, NVIDIA, 2D, no VR)

[Jeroen83]

The solution for me is: use ULTRA setting to eliminate all banding issues. 

[Skydogg]

Disabled Cinematic, switched from High to Ultra , Extreme clouds setting. This cleaned up banding issues alot. Will miss Cinematic but disabling cleans up circular banding. Thanks people for the tips!

[FTC_horsky]

[SvAF/F16_Goblin]

14 hours ago, Firdimigdi said:

@SvAF/F16_Goblin
Isn't the "cinematic" checkbox in the camera settings the one controlling if vignette is visible or not? I seem to remember something like that.

 

Anyhow - for the people playing on monitors that are affected the most, could you please give a check to this stuff below? I wrote it up earlier in a thread in general discussion but thought that it might interest some here and it'll likely get lost in that thread:

 

Settings to check:

1. Make sure your monitor is operating at it's intended colour depth/mode - for a typical RGB PC monitor it is this (below in nVidia control panel, AMD drive has a slightly fancier menu nowadays):

If this is correct then you should be able to see this image perfectly, all colours and all text should be pixel-perfect:

https://www.rtings.com/images/test-materials/2017/chroma-444.png (if viewing in a browser make sure it is not being scaled and is displayed at 100% scale)

 

2. Press Win key and type in "Color Management" - here, if your monitor vendor provides a colour profile it would be good to press "Add" and point it to use that colour profile and check the "Use my settings for this device" checkbox. If not, then go to advanced and set all settings to "System Default":

 

3. If in the previous step you have resorted to the System Default setting you might also want to try setting the "Override to reference mode" option in the nVidia control panel:

 

 

I have all those settings off and/or checked. A lot of them have no bearing since I only use VR never 2D monitor.
The banding only shows in VR.
I use ULTRA presets.

[firdimigdi]

Yeah the above is only for screens as noted. I'm in the same boat as you in VR but I probably don't mind it as much.

 

However the antivignette mod mentioned earlier is basically the same as unchecking the cinematic option AFAIK.

Edited March 19, 2022 by Firdimigdi

[FTC_horsky]

After a while you forget about it, more important checking skies and six of course ? But still, once in a while one gets reminded, like around post patch days? Or when you look at the beautiful vista, taking in the sights, filled with childlike joy and awe ? and then you look up, and now your in a grayish lsd trip???

Lefunestes enhancer mod takes care of this problem, also included other vr quality of life controls we as vr users always get snuffed out on, color, brightness etc. Standard tools for monitor users. But we can not use it in multiplayer, which is a bummer, correct and understandable. Really wouldn't want to have the madness we had in old il2.

 

[Gora_]

I have checked VR vs 2D and can confirm that problem is present on VR (Reverb G2 in my case) but no so much on my flat monitor. 

 

Is seems that every change in the engine must be tested by you in VR as well. It's a pity that one solution works great on 2D but no in VR these days. 

[Props]

I am using a 32" @ 1440p monitor and can see some banding as well. I don't notice it when I'm busy fighting off the enemy, etc. only if I intentionally look for it. In my case it is a big circle around the periphery of the screen, or field of view depending on how you want to think of it, with the center 2/3 maybe 3/4 of this circle looking great with no banding, just some very light banding around the edges, with the barest hint of banding in some clouds also at the edges of the display. I may fiddle with trying the Ultra setting as noted here as I have been using High even though my GPU can easily run Ultra I had noticed that in the past Ultra really did not make a noticeable difference in my visuals in sim. 

 

It sounds like this is a real issue post update, especially for VR users, but I wanted to note that I can see it on a monitor as well though perhaps not so prominently.

 

My current PC spec just for reference sake:

Asus ROG B550-F Gaming motherboard
Superflower Leadex III 850w PSU
AMD Ryzen 5800X CPU w/ Noctua cooler
EVGA 3080 XC3 Ultra GPU (undervolted 1860Mhz & .825 mv)
T-Force Xtreem DDR4, 3600Mhz, 32 GB CL14
Seagate Firecuda M.2 NVMe Gen 4 SSD 500gb - Windows drive
Sabrent Rocket M.2 NVMe Gen 4 SSD 1Tb - IL-2 GB drive
Sabrent Rocket M.2 NVMe Gen 4 SSD 1Tb - DCS & MSFS drive
Asus ROG Swift PG329 2560 x 1440, 175 Hz IPS display
Track IR 5
Thrustmaster Warthog Throttle
Virpil Virpil VPC MongoosT-50CM2 Grip w/base
MFG Crosswinds rudder pedals

 

[nozedyve]

Yep, banding issues here too since the 4.703 update. Using a 27" @ 1440p monitor.

I have tried the options posted by Firdimigdi, graphics settings at Ultra / Extreme Clouds, and Cinematic disabled. I also tried with and without my ReShade profile, thinking that might have an impact. So far I have not been able to eliminate the cloud banding effects.

 

Relevant specs are:

Ryzen 5 5600X,

Asus Rog Strix B550_F Gaming WiFi,

Asus TUF 3060Ti,

Dell U2715H,

G.Skill TridentZ Neo 16GB @ DDR4-3600

[MajorMagee]

Does using the ReShade Deband Shader still help you? I used to have that turned on, but with this update on Ultra and Cloud Quality maxed out I don't need it anymore.

[JG700_Benek]

Guys if you have Nvidia maybe this will help you:

 

EDIT: As @SvAF/F16_Goblin correctly noted this is only possible solution for monitor users no VR sadly

 

Edited March 20, 2022 by JG700_Benek

[IckyATLAS]

You could try with all the Nvidia driver settings (Nvidia Driver Panel, 3D settings) set either to Deactivated or whenever possible set to the Controlled by the Application. I have an Asus Rog Strix 3090 with the latest drivers and with these driver settings  have absolutely no issues, no banding, bloom is perfect without issues and excellent visual quality day/night and superb cloud rendering. 

 

[SvAF/F16_Goblin]

3 hours ago, JG700_Benek said:

Guys if you have Nvidia maybe this will help you:

 

 

 

This unfortunately seems to be for monitors and not applicable to VR

[JG700_Benek]

20 minutes ago, SvAF/F16_Goblin said:

This unfortunately seems to be for monitors and not applicable to VR

 

I dont use VR so was unaware of this but it seems strange for me that VR image does not get changed, out of curiosity the color part works and dithering do not or both changes are not shown in VR? If any1 also can throw quick explanation why it doesn't work in VR would be gratefull - want to know how the VR image is done 

Edited March 20, 2022 by JG700_Benek