maruko wrote: ↑31 Aug 2025, 22:10
Hi, everyone, this is my fix to banding and black crush with SDR games, hope this can help
You can jump at the end of this post to see my results.
Requirements:
•A colorimeter (I used an X-Rite i1 Display Pro Plus)
•DisplayCAL calibration software (free)
•Some familiarity with DisplayCAL (the official website has a detailed guide and forum support. In any case, here I’ll share all the settings I used, ready to go)
Banding
•This is the only issue I attribute to the panel itself and it cannot be fully eliminated. However, it managed to reduced it to the same levels as my good LG CX OLED TV.
•What puzzled me: my 2021 LG CX scored nearly the same in gradient tests, yet it looks far less problematic than the ASUS.
•What I found is the issue is worsened by
oversaturation. Fixing this automatically reduces perceived banding to my eyes. Proper calibration and profiling and clamp to the sRGB color space using a 3DLUT in ReShade do the rest.
Black crush (100% fixable)
•Old firmware: fixed with update to firmware MCM104.
•sRGB preset: even with the new firmware, black crush occurs mostly in this preset. Using User mode reduces it.
•The panel can achieve an ideal gamma of 2.4, but factory settings make it too dark and black crushing. Again, a full fix is possible by properly calibrating and profiling the User preset with DisplayCAL and generating a 3DLUT to be used with ReShade.
1. OSD monitor settings
• VRR: Off
• Preset: User Mode
• Shadow Boost: Off
• Brightness: to taste (I set 32 = 110 nits on my unit, for evening gaming with dim lights)
• Uniform Brightness: On
• Contrast: 80
• Clear Pixel Edge: Off
• Vivid Pixel: 50 (default)
• Color Space: Wide Gamut
• Color Temp (User): R 99 / G 100 / B 99 (your unit may vary)
• Saturation & Six-axis Saturation: 50 (default)
• Gamma: 2.2 (based on DisplayCAL measurements this matches most closely an absolute 2.4 target)
• 2.4 OSD ≈ 2.50 measured
• 2.2 OSD ≈ 2.32 measured
• 2.6 OSD ≈ 2.71 measured
• Screen Dimming Control: Off (for calibration only; you may re-enable later)
• Outer Dimming Control: I suggest keeping it Off also during gaming
• Screen Move: Off (for calibration only; you may re-enable later)
• Auto Logo Brightness: I suggest keeping it Off also during gaming
• Remember to re-enable OLED care features when not gaming.
2. GPU control panel settings
set FULL RGB RANGE 0-255
3. Here's my DisplayCAL settings
• Preset: 3D LUT for ReShade
• Mode: Refresh
• White level drift compensation: Yes
• Black level drift compensation: Yes
• Output: Auto
• Correction: WOLED
• Observer: CIE 1931 2°
• Whitepoint: Color temperature → 6504K
• White level: Custom (personal preference; I chose 110 cd/m²)
• Black level: As measured (OLED = true black)
• Tone curve: Custom → Gamma 2.4 → Absolute
• Black output offset: 0%
• Ambient light level adjustment: 10–18 lux if gaming in dim light; increase if brighter (can measure with the meter)
• Black point correction: 0%
• Calibration speed: Medium
• Calibration quality: High
• Testchart: Auto-optimized (173 patches)
• Profile type: XYZ LUT + Matrix
• Black point compensation: No
• Create 3D LUT after profiling: Yes
• Source color space: Rec.709
• Tone curve: Custom → Gamma 2.4 → Absolute
• Black output offset: 0%
• Rendering intent: Absolute colorimetric
• Gamut mapping mode: Inverse to PCS
• Input & Output Encoding: 16–235
4. After profiling
• Save the 3D LUT in a folder of your choice.
• Install the ICC profile system-wide with DisplayCAL.
5. Before gaming
• IMPORTANT: Reset calibration curves (disable ICC profile) → Right-click DisplayCAL Profile Loader in the system tray → Reset video card gamma table (if not, you will Apply the calibration twice)
• Install ReShade in the game folder.
• Copy the exported 3D LUT “shaders” and “textures” files into the corresponding ReShade directories in the game directory
• Launch the game, launch ReShade and enable the Color Lookup Table shader.