New Alienware 17 R4 Gradient/Color-banding...

I just purchased a new 17r4 with the 120hz 1440p (AUO1496) screen and while the rest of the computer is great I have noticed a distracting level of color-banding on this panel. What I am noticing is that this screen seems incapable of displaying a smooth gradient particularly in the gray-scale. Any darker details seem grainy and any light source seems haloed. Is this normal for this panel? Has anyone else experienced this? 

I have included a screenshot that shows some of the issue though it is not as pronounced here as I have experienced in some games or videos it does show the various issues well. Note how grainy the detail in the darker areas of the planet is as well as the glow around the planet. A link to the full size image. It feels like the display is stuck at a low color depth...