diff --git a/changelog.txt b/changelog.txt
index 542ee80..09a2cc0 100644
--- a/changelog.txt
+++ b/changelog.txt
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@ add: r_alphaToCoverage <0|1> (default: 1) enables alpha to coverage anti-aliasin
   A2C AA can only work if MSAA is enabled (i.e. r_msaa > 1)
   it is used to super-sample all fragments of alpha-tested surfaces
 
-add: r_dither <0|1> (default: 0) enables the addition of noise to fight color banding artifacts
+add: r_dither <0|1> (default: 0) enables the addition of noise to reduce color banding artifacts
 
-add: r_noiseScale <0.125 to 8.0> (default: 1.0) controls the strength of the dithering noise
+add: r_ditherStrength <0.125 to 8.0> (default: 1.0) controls the amount of noise added by dithering
 
 add: r_gpuMipGen <0|1> (default: 1) enables GPU-side mip-map generation
   this helps improve map load time (less to upload) and offers greater quality preservation options
diff --git a/code/renderer/tr_backend_d3d11.cpp b/code/renderer/tr_backend_d3d11.cpp
index f9cf797..2f03f7c 100644
--- a/code/renderer/tr_backend_d3d11.cpp
+++ b/code/renderer/tr_backend_d3d11.cpp
@@ -684,7 +684,7 @@ static void UploadPendingShaderData()
 		psData.seed[1] = d3d.frameSeed[1];
 		psData.invGamma = 1.0f / r_gamma->value;
 		psData.invBrightness = 1.0f / r_brightness->value;
-		psData.noiseScale = backEnd.projection2D ? 0.0f : r_noiseScale->value;
+		psData.noiseScale = backEnd.projection2D ? 0.0f : r_ditherStrength->value;
 		ResetShaderData(pipeline->vertexBuffer, &vsData, sizeof(vsData));
 		ResetShaderData(pipeline->pixelBuffer, &psData, sizeof(psData));
 	}
diff --git a/code/renderer/tr_backend_gl3.cpp b/code/renderer/tr_backend_gl3.cpp
index 152230e..5d9b03c 100644
--- a/code/renderer/tr_backend_gl3.cpp
+++ b/code/renderer/tr_backend_gl3.cpp
@@ -2161,7 +2161,7 @@ static void DrawGeneric()
 			pipeline->uniformLocations[GU_GAMMA_BRIGHT_NOISE_SEED],
 			1.0f / r_gamma->value,
 			1.0f / r_brightness->value,
-			backEnd.projection2D ? 0.0f : r_noiseScale->value,
+			backEnd.projection2D ? 0.0f : r_ditherStrength->value,
 			(float)rand() / (float)RAND_MAX);
 	}
 
diff --git a/code/renderer/tr_help.h b/code/renderer/tr_help.h
index 63e8522..09072e6 100644
--- a/code/renderer/tr_help.h
+++ b/code/renderer/tr_help.h
@@ -157,9 +157,9 @@ S_COLOR_VAL "    T2  " S_COLOR_HELP "= Tent 2 (1/3 2/3, same as the CPU version)
 #define help_r_dither \
 "enables dithering\n" \
 "Introduces noise to fight color banding artifacts.\n" \
-"The strength of the noise is controlled by " S_COLOR_CVAR "r_noiseScale" S_COLOR_HELP "."
+"The strength of the noise is controlled by " S_COLOR_CVAR "r_ditherStrength" S_COLOR_HELP "."
 
-#define help_r_noiseScale \
+#define help_r_ditherStrength \
 "dithering noise strength\n" \
 "The dithering on/off switch is " S_COLOR_CVAR "r_dither" S_COLOR_HELP "."
 
diff --git a/code/renderer/tr_init.cpp b/code/renderer/tr_init.cpp
index d0c3574..cf01e6c 100644
--- a/code/renderer/tr_init.cpp
+++ b/code/renderer/tr_init.cpp
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ cvar_t	*r_rtColorFormat;
 
 cvar_t	*r_mipGenFilter;
 cvar_t	*r_mipGenGamma;
-cvar_t	*r_noiseScale;
+cvar_t	*r_ditherStrength;
 cvar_t	*r_transpSort;
 cvar_t	*r_gl3_geoStream;
 cvar_t	*r_d3d11_syncOffsets;
@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@ static const cvarTableItem_t r_cvars[] =
 	{ &r_textureMode, "r_textureMode", "best", CVAR_ARCHIVE | CVAR_LATCH, CVART_STRING, NULL, NULL, help_r_textureMode },
 	{ &r_gamma, "r_gamma", "1.2", CVAR_ARCHIVE, CVART_FLOAT, "0.5", "3", help_r_gamma },
 	{ &r_greyscale, "r_greyscale", "0", CVAR_ARCHIVE, CVART_FLOAT, "0", "1", "controls how monochrome the final image looks" },
-	{ &r_noiseScale, "r_noiseScale", "1.0", CVAR_ARCHIVE, CVART_FLOAT, "0.125", "8.0", help_r_noiseScale },
+	{ &r_ditherStrength, "r_ditherStrength", "1.0", CVAR_ARCHIVE, CVART_FLOAT, "0.125", "8.0", help_r_ditherStrength },
 	{ &r_transpSort, "r_transpSort", "0", CVAR_ARCHIVE, CVART_BOOL, NULL, NULL, help_r_transpSort },
 	{ &r_lodCurveError, "r_lodCurveError", "2000", CVAR_ARCHIVE, CVART_FLOAT, "250", "10000", "curved surfaces LOD scale" },
 
diff --git a/code/renderer/tr_local.h b/code/renderer/tr_local.h
index 37242c7..92a7a73 100644
--- a/code/renderer/tr_local.h
+++ b/code/renderer/tr_local.h
@@ -1009,7 +1009,7 @@ extern cvar_t	*r_displayRefresh;		// optional display refresh option
 extern cvar_t	*r_intensity;
 extern cvar_t	*r_gamma;
 extern cvar_t	*r_greyscale;
-extern cvar_t	*r_noiseScale;			// the strength of the dithering noise
+extern cvar_t	*r_ditherStrength;		// the strength of the dithering noise
 extern cvar_t	*r_transpSort;			// transparency sorting mode
 extern cvar_t	*r_lightmap;			// render lightmaps only
 extern cvar_t	*r_lightmapGreyscale;	// how monochrome the lightmap looks