diff --git a/Assets/Scripts/Components/MeshPainter/MeshPainter.Gpu.cs b/Assets/Scripts/Components/MeshPainter/MeshPainter.Gpu.cs
index 98474f1..e1aa12e 100644
--- a/Assets/Scripts/Components/MeshPainter/MeshPainter.Gpu.cs
+++ b/Assets/Scripts/Components/MeshPainter/MeshPainter.Gpu.cs
@@ -54,9 +54,9 @@ public partial class MeshPainter
             var gm = new GpuMap
             {
                 sRGB = !linear,
-                display = CreateRT("MeshPainter_DisplayRT_" + mi, linear),
-                temp = CreateRT("MeshPainter_TempRT_" + mi, linear),
-                final = (mi == MAP_MSO) ? CreateRT("MeshPainter_FinalRT_" + mi, linear) : null
+                display = CreateRT("MeshPainter_DisplayRT_" + mi),
+                temp = CreateRT("MeshPainter_TempRT_" + mi),
+                final = (mi == MAP_MSO) ? CreateRT("MeshPainter_FinalRT_" + mi) : null
             };
             _gpu[mi] = gm;
 
@@ -134,10 +134,17 @@ public partial class MeshPainter
         if (_packMat) { Destroy(_packMat); _packMat = null; }
     }
 
-    private RenderTexture CreateRT(string rtName, bool linear)
+    private RenderTexture CreateRT(string rtName)
     {
-        var rt = new RenderTexture(textureSize, textureSize, 0, RenderTextureFormat.ARGB32,
-            linear ? RenderTextureReadWrite.Linear : RenderTextureReadWrite.sRGB)
+        // 16-bit half-float, NOT ARGB32: repeated low-opacity source-over only converges to the
+        // target colour if the accumulation buffer has sub-8-bit precision. At 8 bpp the per-stroke
+        // decrement dst*alpha rounds back to dst once it drops below half an LSB, so painting e.g.
+        // black at low opacity freezes at a grey floor (~0.5/alpha in 255ths) and never reaches 0.
+        // Half-float removes that floor. Storage is linear; the sRGB round-trip for colour maps
+        // happens at the byte boundary (seed decodes on upload, ReadRtPixels re-encodes on readback),
+        // so canonical bytes and CPU/GPU parity are unchanged - only the accumulation gained bits.
+        var rt = new RenderTexture(textureSize, textureSize, 0, RenderTextureFormat.ARGBHalf,
+            RenderTextureReadWrite.Linear)
         {
             name = rtName,
             wrapMode = TextureWrapMode.Clamp,
@@ -161,21 +168,39 @@ public partial class MeshPainter
         tmp.Apply(false);
 
         bool prev = GL.sRGBWrite;
-        GL.sRGBWrite = !linear;
+        // Paint RTs store LINEAR half-float, so never sRGB-encode on write. The source tex's own
+        // colour space (sRGB for colour maps) still decodes to linear when the blit samples it.
+        GL.sRGBWrite = false;
         Graphics.Blit(tmp, rt);
         GL.sRGBWrite = prev;
         Destroy(tmp);
     }
 
-    /// <summary>Reads a RenderTexture back as Color32 (for the backend switch).</summary>
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Reads a paint RT back into 8-bit canonical bytes. The paint RTs are linear 16-bit half (for
+    /// blend precision), so this first blits down into a throwaway 8-bit RT using the SAME encoding
+    /// the old ARGB32 RTs had - sRGB for colour maps (GL.sRGBWrite re-encodes), linear for data maps -
+    /// then reads that. The resulting bytes are bit-for-bit what the old 8-bit path (and the CPU
+    /// backend) produced for the same colour; only the accumulation gained precision.
+    /// </summary>
     private Color32[] ReadRtPixels(RenderTexture rt, bool linear)
     {
-        var prev = RenderTexture.active;
-        RenderTexture.active = rt;
+        var prevActive = RenderTexture.active;
+
+        var tmp = RenderTexture.GetTemporary(textureSize, textureSize, 0, RenderTextureFormat.ARGB32,
+            linear ? RenderTextureReadWrite.Linear : RenderTextureReadWrite.sRGB);
+        bool prevSRGB = GL.sRGBWrite;
+        GL.sRGBWrite = !linear; // colour maps: re-encode linear->sRGB on write; data maps: linear
+        Graphics.Blit(rt, tmp);
+        GL.sRGBWrite = prevSRGB;
+
+        RenderTexture.active = tmp;
         var tex = new Texture2D(textureSize, textureSize, TextureFormat.RGBA32, false, linear);
         tex.ReadPixels(new Rect(0, 0, textureSize, textureSize), 0, 0, false);
         tex.Apply(false);
-        RenderTexture.active = prev;
+
+        RenderTexture.active = prevActive;
+        RenderTexture.ReleaseTemporary(tmp);
         var px = tex.GetPixels32();
         Destroy(tex);
         return px;
@@ -206,7 +231,7 @@ public partial class MeshPainter
             var gm = _gpu[mi];
 
             Graphics.SetRenderTarget(gm.display);
-            GL.sRGBWrite = gm.sRGB; // sRGB color map vs linear data map (MS)
+            GL.sRGBWrite = false; // linear half RTs: blend natively in linear, no sRGB encode
 
             // Stamp placement is shared by every draw on this map.
             _brushMat.SetTexture(MaskTexId, _stampMask);
@@ -279,7 +304,7 @@ public partial class MeshPainter
             // Edge padding against UV seams: dilate the display RT into temp, then swap.
             if (gm.drew && paddingTexels > 0)
             {
-                GL.sRGBWrite = gm.sRGB;
+                GL.sRGBWrite = false;
                 _dilateMat.SetInt(PadId, paddingTexels);
                 Graphics.Blit(gm.display, gm.temp, _dilateMat, 0);