Perceptual Quantization

The perceptual quantizer (PQ), published by

SMPTE The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) (, rarely ), founded in 1916 as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers or SMPE, is a global professional association of engineers, technologists, and executives working in the m ...

as SMPTE ST 2084, is a

transfer function In engineering, a transfer function (also known as system function or network function) of a system, sub-system, or component is a mathematical function that theoretically models the system's output for each possible input. They are widely used ...

that allows for HDR display by replacing the gamma curve used in SDR. It is capable of representing luminance level up to 10000 cd/m² (nits) and down to 0.0001 nits. It has been developed by

Dolby Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (often shortened to Dolby Labs and known simply as Dolby) is an American company specializing in audio noise reduction, audio encoding/compression, spatial audio, and HDR imaging. Dolby licenses its technologies to ...

and standardized in 2014 by

and also in 2016 by ITU in

Rec. 2100 ITU-R Recommendation BT.2100, more commonly known by the abbreviations Rec. 2100 or BT.2100, introduced high-dynamic-range television (HDR-TV) by recommending the use of the perceptual quantizer (PQ) or hybrid log–gamma (HLG) transfer func ...

. ITU specifies the use of PQ or HLG