Banding - What is it exactly?

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Steven Wandy - 12 Aug 2006 16:42 GMT

Can anyone either give me an explaination of what is refered to as
"Banding" or a link to a site where it is explained clearly. I hear it
refered to often - generally with regard to particular cameras - and I
was just curious what it is, the cause and what to look for in my
images. (I have an Oly E330 by the way.)
Thanks,
Steve

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alf@aol.com - 12 Aug 2006 21:02 GMT

>Can anyone either give me an explaination of what is refered to as
>"Banding" or a link to a site where it is explained clearly. I hear it
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>Thanks,
>Steve

Banding is a visible pattern on your photo, usually where there is a large
expanse of solid color. It looks like some kind of stripes that aren't really
there... it's an interference pattern between the scene and the sensor array. If
the pixels in the sensor are a similar size to the image falling on them, you
can get a false pattern. Or something like that!

I think the Nikon web site has something on banding...

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RichA - 13 Aug 2006 18:32 GMT

> >Can anyone either give me an explaination of what is refered to as
> >"Banding" or a link to a site where it is explained clearly. I hear it
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> I think the Nikon web site has something on banding...

I don't think that is correct, the part about pixels and the image. I
think that is more like moire. Banding is caused (apparently) by some
kind of electrical interference in some cameras. If you want to see
banding with an Olympus, you can fool around with extreme levels of
contrast and sometimes it will bring it out. But it isn't in the real
of the kind of contrast you see in a normal image.

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Gisle Hannemyr - 14 Aug 2006 19:52 GMT

> Can anyone either give me an explaination of what is refered to as
> "Banding" or a link to a site where it is explained clearly.

Take a look at this site:
http://hannemyr.com/photo/defects.html

It has both an explanation and examples.

> I hear it refered to often - generally with regard to particular
> cameras - and I was just curious what it is, the cause and what to
> look for in my images. (I have an Oly E330 by the way.) Thanks,
> Steve

Some people use the term "banding" to refer to the /pattern noise/
that was a problem with some early versions of the Canon EOS 20D, or
the /corduroy effect/ that was a problem with some early versions of
the Nikon D200.

IMHO, I think it is wrong to use the term "banding" to refer to these
two (different) defects - but you'll find picture samples of the
problems with D200 and 20D on this site as well.

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- gisle hannemyr [ gisle{at}hannemyr.no - http://hannemyr.com/photo/ ]
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Sigma SD10, Kodak DCS460, Canon Powershot G5, Olympus 2020Z
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