Why do I see blocky sky gradients in Lightroom, even from RAW files?
Asked 2/8/2013
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2 answers
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I’m shooting sunsets with a Sony A57 and 18–55mm lens. In one image shot at ISO 200, 0.4s, f/22, the dark blue sky shows obvious blocky/banded gradients after importing the RAW file into Lightroom. I know JPEG export can make this worse, but I can also see artifacts when viewing the RAW in Lightroom.
What typically causes blocky gradients or banding in skies like this? Is it a Lightroom preview issue, underexposure/limited tonal information in the sky, or something else? Would changing exposure help produce a smoother gradient?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
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I think the other answers may have missed the issue here.
Seeing compression artefacts on a RAW file in Lightroom is quite a common issue and it drove me nuts when I first encountered it. It turns out what you're seeing is just regular JPEG compression in the preview image that Lightroom generates. For performance reasons, in the Library module Lightroom only loads the preview and not the original RAW. The banding should disappear when you switch to the Develop module and the RAW is loaded. (Sometimes you'll find you need to zoom in to 100% and back out to force load the RAW - that seems to be an intermittent bug.) You're absolutely right that you shouldn't be seeing those blocky artefacts in a RAW file.
You can force Lightroom to generate higher-quality previews with fewer JPEG artefacts by going to Edit > Catalog Settings... > File Handling and set Preview Quality to High.
Originally by user3644. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user3644
13y ago
0
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There are a few likely causes, and more than one may apply:
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Lightroom preview artifacts: In Lightroom’s Library module, you may be seeing a JPEG preview rather than the full RAW rendering. That preview can show compression artifacts or banding that aren’t really in the RAW. Check the image in Develop; sometimes zooming to 100% helps force the RAW render.
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Banding/posterization in dark skies: Smooth gradients in low-signal areas (like a dark blue sunset sky) can band if the image is slightly underexposed or heavily adjusted. There’s simply less tonal/color information in those darker areas.
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Display limitations: Wide-gamut/high-bit image data can also look banded on a lower-bit display.
To reduce it, try giving the sky more exposure without clipping highlights—often described as exposing to the right—then darken in post. Avoid excessive JPEG compression. If banding remains, a small amount of noise/grain can sometimes help break it up visually.
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