Monitor Test
Run fullscreen test patterns for banding, sharpness, gamma, uniformity and text clarity.
Each pattern opens fullscreen. ← → switch patterns · Esc exits · the menu hides itself after a moment.
How it works
Eight fullscreen patterns cover the checks a new or aging monitor needs. The gradient ramp exposes banding from 6-bit panels or lossy cable modes. The sharpness grid shows scaling blur instantly — at native resolution every line should be a crisp single pixel. The gamma chart works by optical mixing: stripes of pure black and white average to a known brightness, and the solid patch that visually merges with them reveals your display's gamma (2.2 is the standard target).
The three uniformity grays make backlight bleed, clouding and color tint visible — judge them in a dim room at normal viewing distance. Text clarity renders live text at several sizes: color fringes suggest non-native resolution or subpixel rendering mismatched to the panel. The viewing-angle bands quantify how much your panel's color shifts off-axis — IPS panels shift little, TN panels a lot. Found a suspicious dot along the way? Isolate it with the dead pixel test.
Troubleshooting
› I see steps in the gradient test
Visible bands mean your display or its cable is limited to 6-bit color, or aggressive image “enhancement” is enabled. Try disabling dynamic contrast and setting the monitor to a standard picture mode.
› Text looks fringed in the clarity test
Color fringes on text usually mean the display is not running at native resolution, or subpixel rendering doesn’t match the panel layout. Set your OS to the panel’s native resolution at 100% or an integer scale.
Frequently asked questions
› What does the banding test show?
A smooth gradient should look continuous. Visible stripes mean limited color depth or processing artifacts — often fixable by picture mode or cable changes.
› How do I use the gamma chart?
View it at native resolution from a normal distance. The point where the inner patch blends into the striped background indicates your display’s gamma — 2.2 is the common target.
› What is uniformity testing for?
Full-gray screens reveal backlight bleed, clouding and tint shifts across the panel — issues invisible in normal content but obvious in gray fields.
› Is this a substitute for hardware calibration?
No — these patterns help you spot problems and make coarse adjustments. Accurate color work still needs a hardware colorimeter.