Gradient color banding lines visual artifacts MSFS 2024

[dlebedev]

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• One for iteration (msfs-2020 or msfs-2024) msfs-2024

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ISSUE DESCRIPTION

Description of the issue:
once again I am writing about what visually causes discomfort

The color banding in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is a visual artifact that manifests itself in the form of sharp transitions between shades, especially noticeable in the sky during sunrises and sunsets. This problem can be related to various factors, including graphics settings, HDR mode, and simulator engine features.

Possible causes and solutions

1. Switch from 16-bit to 10-bit rendering
   Some users have noticed that MSFS 2024 has a problem with stripes in the sky, especially during the transition from daylight to night light. This is thought to be due to the switch from 16-bit to 10-bit color rendering, which reduces the number of shades available and can cause a stripe effect. Previously, MSFS 2020 used 16-bit rendering, which provided smoother gradients.

dear Developers msfs 2024
Please return these settings to the MSFS 2024 config so that you can turn these settings on and off yourself at will

{PostProcess
Enabled 1
EyeAdaptation 0
ColorGrading 0
Sharpen 1
Fringe 1
LensDistortion 0
Dirt 1
LensFlare 1
FilmGrain 0
Vignette 0
LensBlurMultiplier 1.000000
FringeMultiplier 1.000000
}

I see gradient bars in the sky as I move the cursor over the timeline

msfs 2020 had the same problem with gradient stripes, but when I set the ColorGrading 0 setting, the stripes disappeared and the picture was smooth and the FilmGrain 0 option also makes the clouds soft without grain.
PLEASE RETURN these settings to MSFS 2024

FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

How often does this occur for you (Example: Just once, every time on sim load, intermittently)? every time on sim load

REPRODUCTION STEPS

Please list clear steps you took in order to help our test team reproduce the same issue:

1. There are always such artifacts in the form of gradient lines

YOUR SETTINGS

If the issue still occurs with no mods and add-ons, please continue to report your issue. If not, please move this post to the User Support Hub.

What peripherals are you using:

[PC Only] Are you using Developer Mode or have you made any changes to it? No

[PC, MSFS 2020 Only] Are you using DX11 or DX12? DX12

[PC Only] What GPU (Graphics Card) do you use? Gigabyte RTX 3080 Ti

[PC Only] What other relevant PC specs can you share?

MEDIA

*Please add a screenshot or video of the issue occurring.
*

[bodyspike]

Still happening n SU4 beta FS24

[dlebedev]

yes, unfortunately no reaction from developers in this direction (((((((((((

[bodyspike]

maybe we should go back to FS2020. Clouds are terrible as well… I see pixels…

[dlebedev]

[kristofpetho]

Absolutely destroys immersion in MSFS2024 when flying through clouds. I honestly cannot believe this has not been sorted out yet…

[dlebedev]

I reached out to chatgpt with
eventually came to the conclusion that such artifacts appear when using DLSS
surprisingly, there are no such artifacts in msfs 2020 with DLSS enabled

[kristofpetho]

Exactly…
I did manage to “fix” it - if you use ReShade, there is a Deband filter that works…

But I feel like Asobo should still implement an official fix for this.

[nickmcpilot]

I’m not going to claim to be an expert on this topic, I have the same problem. However I don’t see it as a flaw… simply a limitation of my monitor which, like the vast majority of them is colour limited to 8-bits of colour info. I honestly thought that INCREDIBLY few monitors were 10-bit (or they cost 1000€ plus)

The only one that I have is my MacBook Pro which is 10-bit P3 and I NEVER see banding in any circumstance (as long as the image quality is good enough).

Is your monitor a 10-bit compatible monitor because honestly 10-bits are enough colours to honestly prevent this problem. Forget 16-bit.

FInally, are you using HDR because I feel its a much bigger deal there ?

[kristofpetho]

I do have a 10-bit monitor (Alienware OLED), and the banding is there. I also run MSFS 2020, and there is no banding there. It IS a limiation of the game, a flaw, if you will.

[LiveJuffowup555]

Shows how ■■■■ ChatGPT is then. There was a problem with this in 2020 at one time. Turned out they had reduced the bits per pixel (colour depth) by accident in one of the updates resulting in the banding

[wcc96387]

In Chicago’s snow storm yesterday. 2024, TAA, I’ll try the deband filter on reshade

[kristofpetho]

The following configuration completely removed all debanding for me:

[Deband.fx]
banding_depth=1.000000
debug_output=0
enable_depthbuffer=0
enable_sdeviation=1
enable_weber=1
iterations=1
range=24.000000
t1=0.012000
t2=0.040000

[wcc96387]

these are the options I have available, what preset do you use?

[kristofpetho]

Leave everything as is, except Standard Deviation Threshold should be 0.012

[kristofpetho]

Update: after flying in a few scenarios, especially at dawn, I have raised the Standard Deviation Threshold to 0.016, and it is now perfect.

[dlebedev]

I was satisfied with this option

this filter changes only clouds and skies with haze, making them smoother and lighter without rough shapes
everything as I watched in real life when I fly like a passenger and watch out the window.

the effect is not applied to the dashboard and objects, which is very good!

The clouds and the sky became very beautiful.

Developers, please pay attention to this!

[BegottenPoet228]

I don’t see banding with the VESA DisplayHDR 1000 monitor I’m using now, but I have in the past with my old VESA DisplayHDR 10 monitor.

Anyway, I’m going to add the ReShade deband filter to my list, just in case I need it in the future.
I’ve used it in the past, and it worked great.

Good to see you found a workaround! (Banding is very distracting…)

[wcc96387]

using these settings at a snowy/rainy Newark I didn’t notice any banding as the weather moved through and while on climb out through the clouds.

The banding here is compression from posting the pic, wasn’t there in the sim or original screnshot

[dlebedev]

I already wrote that I was collecting information about the bands
as it turned out, stripes are a side effect when using DLSS

in the msfs 2024 settings set TAA and colors become excellent

msfs 2024 color scheme requires revision and adjustment with DLSS