[Edit: This side discussion has been split off from topic AMC Gremlin] Investigating further... Here is a comparison of displacement effects: First with a Gradient Material set to transition from RGB 128  to RGB 129 and Displacement set to 100000% Second is that  gradient rendered to a TGA and used as a Displacement map Third is that gradient rendered to an OpenEXR and used as a Displacement map   The Material is able to calculate an exact value for every