1. A method of processing digital video content comprising the steps of: dividing at least one area of a video picture from said digital video content into blocks; computing an average pixel value for each of said blocks; forming a DC plane comprising a plurality of the average pixel values; computing a gradient for each of the plurality of said average pixel values of said DC plane; computing at least a mean and variance of the gradients to determine whether said at least one area is at least one of a texture area, a smooth area, and a slow change area by comparing said at least a mean and variance to a respective threshold value; excluding said at least one area from banding artifact detection if said at least one area is categorized as the texture area; and detecting whether said at least one area of said video picture has a banding artifact if said at least one area is categorized as the smooth area or the slow change area.