Unity Issue Tracker - Lines are present on surfaces when using Directional Light

By Design

Votes

2

Found in

2022.3.61f1

6000.0.45f1

6000.1.0b14

6000.2.0a8

6000.3.0a1

Issue ID

UUM-102263

Regression

No

Lines are present on surfaces when using Directional Light

Apr 04, 2025

Reproduction steps:
1. Open the attached project "ReproProj"
2. Open the “/Assets/Scenes/SampleScene.unity” Scene
3. In Scene view, navigate above the brown plane and look at it from different sides

Expected result: No lines occur
Actual result: Lines are present on the surface

Reproducible with: 2022.3.61f1, 6000.0.45f1, 6000.1.0b14, 6000.2.0a8

Reproducible on:
Game View
Scene View
Play Mode
Windows Standalone Player

Testing environment: Windows 10 Enterprise 21H2
Not reproducible on: No other environment tested

Notes:
- Appear on all surfaces
- Reproducible in an empty Scene
- When materials or color texture is applied, the issue becomes more visible
- Reproduces on other software

Resolution Note:

Upon inspection, the final framebuffer color image presents a smooth gradient. We are still in the presence of the typical banding artifacts that appear due to the limited 8-bit precision (256 discrete values) of the final color buffer.
These artifacts don't appear in Blender because it implements dithering when presenting its rendered image. Dithering consists in adding a small amount of noise to the rendered pixels before copying them to the final framebuffer. You can achieve a similar outcome in Unity's URP or HDRP SRPs by enabling the film grain postprocess with a very small intensity. If you prefer to write the effect yourself, you can check for instance this presentation https://loopit.dk/banding_in_games.pdf and its associated shadertoy: https://www.shadertoy.com/view/MslGR8.

Side note: since banding stems from the limited precision of the output color buffer, running your application on a display with a wider color depth (10-bit or HDR display) will also eliminate or greatly reduce that kind of issue.

Comments (3)

chiraggamehyperstudio

Apr 18, 2025 06:15

Issue Overview:
Strange lines are appearing in both the Game and Scene views within Unity. These lines are visible even when the scene is completely empty. They do not cross their respective screen borders and remain within each view.

Not a Banding Issue:
This is not a typical banding issue, as confirmed by your support team.

Isolated to Unity:
Blender and other rendering software work normally, so the issue seems to be isolated to Unity.

Lines Become More Noticeable with Objects:
The lines become more prominent when an object is created and a color is applied.

Lines Move with Scene Navigation:
These lines move as we navigate the Scene view using Alt + Left Mouse Button.

Not Project or Device Specific:
The issue has been confirmed on multiple devices and is also visible while following Unity 6 courses on Udemy, indicating it's not project- or device-specific.
chiraggamehyperstudio

Apr 11, 2025 15:07

I have been troubleshooting a weird graphical issue in Unity for over 10-15 days, thinking it was a problem with my system. However, I just discovered that this SAME issue appears in a Udemy course video (Unity Beginner to Advanced - Unity 6).
chiraggamehyperstudio

Apr 04, 2025 13:37

Hi, thanks for addressing this issue!

These lines make it difficult to focus on the project, as they appear on all materials and significantly impact visual quality in different lighting conditions. Even when creating a new project with an empty scene, the same lines are present, making this a persistent issue.

Please provide a solution or workaround as soon as possible. Looking forward to your update.

Thanks!

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