diff --git a/wled00/FX.cpp b/wled00/FX.cpp
index cfd5d170..38b31177 100644
--- a/wled00/FX.cpp
+++ b/wled00/FX.cpp
@@ -5892,15 +5892,21 @@ uint16_t mode_2Dscrollingtext(void) {
       SEGMENT.fade_out(255 - (SEGMENT.custom1>>5)); // fade to background color
       SEGMENT.fade_out(255 - (SEGMENT.custom1>>5)); // fade to background color
     }
-}
+  }
   for (int i = 0; i < numberOfLetters; i++) {
     if (int(cols) - int(SEGENV.aux0) + letterWidth*(i+1) < 0) continue; // don't draw characters off-screen
-    SEGMENT.drawCharacter(text[i], int(cols) - int(SEGENV.aux0) + letterWidth*i, yoffset, letterWidth, letterHeight, SEGMENT.color_from_palette(SEGENV.aux1, false, PALETTE_SOLID_WRAP, 0));
+    uint32_t col1 = SEGMENT.color_from_palette(SEGENV.aux1, false, PALETTE_SOLID_WRAP, 0);
+    uint32_t col2 = BLACK;
+    if (SEGMENT.check1 && SEGMENT.palette == 0) {
+      col1 = SEGCOLOR(0);
+      col2 = SEGCOLOR(2);
+    }
+    SEGMENT.drawCharacter(text[i], int(cols) - int(SEGENV.aux0) + letterWidth*i, yoffset, letterWidth, letterHeight, col1, col2);
   }
 
   return FRAMETIME;
 }
-static const char _data_FX_MODE_2DSCROLLTEXT[] PROGMEM = "Scrolling Text@!,Y Offset,Trail,Font size,,,Overlay;!,!;!;2;ix=128,c1=0,rev=0,mi=0,rY=0,mY=0";
+static const char _data_FX_MODE_2DSCROLLTEXT[] PROGMEM = "Scrolling Text@!,Y Offset,Trail,Font size,,Gradient,Overlay;!,!,Gradient;!;2;ix=128,c1=0,rev=0,mi=0,rY=0,mY=0";
 
 
 ////////////////////////////
diff --git a/wled00/FX.h b/wled00/FX.h
index 5de4aff5..8db9e255 100644
--- a/wled00/FX.h
+++ b/wled00/FX.h
@@ -593,8 +593,9 @@ typedef struct Segment {
     void fill_circle(uint16_t cx, uint16_t cy, uint8_t radius, CRGB c);
     void drawLine(uint16_t x0, uint16_t y0, uint16_t x1, uint16_t y1, uint32_t c);
     void drawLine(uint16_t x0, uint16_t y0, uint16_t x1, uint16_t y1, CRGB c) { drawLine(x0, y0, x1, y1, RGBW32(c.r,c.g,c.b,0)); } // automatic inline
-    void drawCharacter(unsigned char chr, int16_t x, int16_t y, uint8_t w, uint8_t h, uint32_t color);
+    void drawCharacter(unsigned char chr, int16_t x, int16_t y, uint8_t w, uint8_t h, uint32_t color, uint32_t col2 = 0);
     void drawCharacter(unsigned char chr, int16_t x, int16_t y, uint8_t w, uint8_t h, CRGB c) { drawCharacter(chr, x, y, w, h, RGBW32(c.r,c.g,c.b,0)); } // automatic inline
+    void drawCharacter(unsigned char chr, int16_t x, int16_t y, uint8_t w, uint8_t h, CRGB c, CRGB c2) { drawCharacter(chr, x, y, w, h, RGBW32(c.r,c.g,c.b,0), RGBW32(c2.r,c2.g,c2.b,0)); } // automatic inline
     void wu_pixel(uint32_t x, uint32_t y, CRGB c);
     void blur1d(fract8 blur_amount); // blur all rows in 1 dimension
     void blur2d(fract8 blur_amount) { blur(blur_amount); }
diff --git a/wled00/FX_2Dfcn.cpp b/wled00/FX_2Dfcn.cpp
index 17882fe8..27840a3a 100644
--- a/wled00/FX_2Dfcn.cpp
+++ b/wled00/FX_2Dfcn.cpp
@@ -499,13 +499,16 @@ void Segment::drawLine(uint16_t x0, uint16_t y0, uint16_t x1, uint16_t y1, uint3
 
 // draws a raster font character on canvas
 // only supports: 4x6=24, 5x8=40, 5x12=60, 6x8=48 and 7x9=63 fonts ATM
-void Segment::drawCharacter(unsigned char chr, int16_t x, int16_t y, uint8_t w, uint8_t h, uint32_t color) {
+void Segment::drawCharacter(unsigned char chr, int16_t x, int16_t y, uint8_t w, uint8_t h, uint32_t color, uint32_t col2) {
   if (chr < 32 || chr > 126) return; // only ASCII 32-126 supported
   chr -= 32; // align with font table entries
   const uint16_t cols = virtualWidth();
   const uint16_t rows = virtualHeight();
   const int font = w*h;
 
+  CRGB col = CRGB(color);
+  CRGBPalette16 grad = CRGBPalette16(col, col2 ? CRGB(col2) : col);
+
   //if (w<5 || w>6 || h!=8) return;
   for (int i = 0; i<h; i++) { // character height
     int16_t y0 = y + i;
@@ -520,10 +523,11 @@ void Segment::drawCharacter(unsigned char chr, int16_t x, int16_t y, uint8_t w,
       case 60: bits = pgm_read_byte_near(&console_font_5x12[(chr * h) + i]); break; // 5x12 font
       default: return;
     }
+    col = ColorFromPalette(grad, (i+1)*255/h, 255, NOBLEND);
     for (int j = 0; j<w; j++) { // character width
       int16_t x0 = x + (w-1) - j;
       if ((x0 >= 0 || x0 < cols) && ((bits>>(j+(8-w))) & 0x01)) { // bit set & drawing on-screen
-        addPixelColorXY(x0, y0, color);
+        addPixelColorXY(x0, y0, col);
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/wled00/wled.h b/wled00/wled.h
index 1a50a3ed..6e25636a 100644
--- a/wled00/wled.h
+++ b/wled00/wled.h
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
  */
 
 // version code in format yymmddb (b = daily build)
-#define VERSION 2301140
+#define VERSION 2301170
 
 //uncomment this if you have a "my_config.h" file you'd like to use
 //#define WLED_USE_MY_CONFIG