XPS 15 9500, color banding

Thanks for that @topg 

I spent some time reading other posts about this problem and it does seem to be related to PremierColor so it looks like i'll have to remove it and get my colorimeter out to create a decent ICC profile for this laptop.

Feels like a bit of a mis-sell to be honest. All adverts for this laptop suggest it's great for photo and video editing but out of the box it's unusable for those types of work.

Yes, it was a big surprise to me too that Dell PremierColor was blatantly and self-evidently not fit for its advertised purpose, and that this wasn't apparent until I actually booted it.  And since there's no alternative for gamut-switching on Windows, it undermines the basic functionality of Dell's wide-gamut display models. Not a problem on Macbooks, of course, because the whole OS is color-managed unlike Windows ...

I wish I'd done more research, but even then the info isn't very transparent and it seemed not believable that Dell wouldn't fix this as a super high priority, or change their advertsiing to reflect the limitations. Evidently there just aren't enough users complaining about it for Dell to care, and Intel doesn't care enough to stop Dell spreading misinformation about its graphics hardware.

For now, I switch between using PremierColor when doing office work or using non-color-managed apps, and then go through the rigmarole of disabling & resetting when working in LR or PS. It's a PITA.

I've followed the same process, uninstalled Dell PremierColor app and Restore to Original Colors in Intel Graphics Command Center but issue is still there.

Since Restore to Original Colors is working in 100% of cases so far, you'll need to tell us more about how the issue is manfesting for you, link us to whatever you're using to test it, etc.

So I've uninstalled Dell Premier Colour app and used the Intel Command Centre tool to reset colours back to defaults and the banding is less pronounced but still a huge issue.

Dark colours are crushed everywhere resulting in, what looks like, a 16 bit colour depth from the late 90s PC era.

I got the colorimeter out and calibrated the display so that the colours are correct but gradients are a mess making the laptop unusable.

Hi,

I'm here to let you know that we are still awaiting update from our internal team. Rest assured I will get back to you once we hear from our team. Thank you for your patience.

Hi,

It is taking longer than we expected, and I apologize for the trouble. Rest assured, we are keeping constant tabs on the service to ensure there are no unnecessary delays. We’ll also keep you posted regularly with the updates. Thank you for your patience.

I'm not sure if you have a different and more serious hardware issue, as those steps fixed the root problem for me and others. While calibration will always cause some minor color banding in fine gradients (an inevitable consequence of the mere 8-bit video Lookup Table on the inbuilt graphics chips vs 10-bit on monitors that can be hardware calibrated) it shouldn't be as severe as you're describing once PremierColor has been disabled and native gamut & video LUT reset via IGCC. Also with all Intel power saving options disabled, and HDR disabled.

For what it's worth, I calibrated with iDisplay Pro and DisplayCAL, and found that the best balance between color accuracy (Delta E < 0.5) and smoother gradients that reached deeper into blacks was the option: Single Curves + Matrix with black compensation, either sRGB or Gamma 2.2 tone curve, 6500K, calibrated at 120cdm. The resulting display profile is very accurate across the board according to DisplayCAL's verification measurement report (which I trust).

Hi!

I have replied via private note.

Yes @Pete Slater , you are right.. same here

Hi @DELL-Cares @topg,

In my case, after uninstalling Dell PremierColor app and Restore to Original Colors in Intel Graphics Command Center issue is not resolved. 

I've updated to latest Intel UHD drivers and also update the Windows,

It it clear that there is some problem(hardware/software) with Dell screen.

I was dealing with the same issue, the only fix I found was to have the hdr on whenever I watch videos or edit photos. This took away most, if not all, of the color banding issue. To turn it on just go to Settings -> System -> Display -> and the turn the "use HDR" toggle on. If it doesn't work initially, try doing it when your laptop is plugged in. Although, my laptop did run hot and had the fans running pretty loud. Hope this helps at all 

I've been dealing with this since I purchased my computer a year ago. It is a real problem considering I bought this computer to work on color accurate work since it was advertised as color precise.  It has caused me more problems than I would like to say here when it comes to color work.   I agree this is a Dell problem and should be solved as a Dell problem.  To me it proves it is a Dell problem when I reset the color profile in intel graphics command center.  The color is fine then.  If I touch anything in Dell PremierColor it switches to bad banding color especially in the darks.