Chart showing a conventional SDR gamma curve and the hybrid log–gamma curve. HLG uses a logarithmic curve for the upper half of the signal values, which allows for a larger dynamic range.
HLG is designed to be better-suited fortelevision broadcasting, where the metadata required for other HDR formats is notbackward compatible with non-HDR displays, consumes additionalbandwidth, and may also become out of sync or damaged in transmission. HLG defines a non-linearoptical-electro transfer function, in which the lower half of the signal values use agamma curve and the upper half of the signal values use alogarithmic curve.[20][21] In practice, the signal is interpreted as normal bystandard-dynamic-range displays (albeit capable of displaying more detail in highlights), but HLG-compatible displays can correctly interpret the logarithmic portion of the signal curve to provide a wider dynamic range.[22][23][24] In contrast with the other HDR formats it does not use metadata.[25]
The HLGtransfer function is backward compatible withSDR'sgamma curve. However, HLG is commonly used withRec. 2020color primaries which produce a de-saturated image with visiblehue shifts on non-compatible devices.[26] HLG is therefore backward compatible with SDR-UHDTV and will show color distortion on common SDR devices that only supportRec. 709 color primaries.[26]
r is the reference white level and has a signal value of 0.5
and the constantsa,b, andc are defined asa = 0.17883277,b = 1 - 4a = 0.28466892, andc = 0.5 -a ln(4a) = 0.55991073
The signal value is 0.5 for the reference white level while the signal value for 1 has arelative luminance that is 12 times higher than the reference white level.[27] ARIB STD-B67 has a nominal range of 0 to 12.[28] HLG uses a logarithmic curve for the upper half of the signal values due toWeber's law.[27]
is the luminance of a displayed linear component in cd/m2.
is the non-linear electrical signal in the range.
is the variable for user black level lift.
is nominal peak luminance of the display in cd/m2 for achromatic pixels.
is the display luminance for black in cd/m2.
HLG does not need to usemetadata since it is compatible with bothSDR displays andHDR displays.[1][3] HLG can be used with displays of differentbrightness in a wide range of viewing environments.[3]
Thedynamic range that can be perceived by thehuman eye in a single image is around 14stops.[27] AnSDR video display with a 2.4gamma curve and abit depth of 8-bits per sample can display a range of about 6 stops without visiblebanding.[27] Professional SDR video displays with a bit depth of 10-bits per sample extend that range to about 10 stops.[27] When HLG is displayed on a 2,000 cd/m2 display with a bit depth of 10-bits per sample it can display a range of 200,000:1 or 17.6 stops without visible banding.[27]
HLG increases thedynamic range of the video compared to a conventional gamma curve by using a logarithmic curve for the upper half of the signal values.[27] HLG also increases the dynamic range by not including the linear part of the conventional gamma curve used byRec. 601 andRec. 709.[29] The linear part of the conventional gamma curve was used to limit camera noise in low light video but is no longer needed withHDR cameras.[29]
HLG is supported inRec. 2100 with a nominal peak luminance of 1,000 cd/m2 and a system gamma value that can be adjusted depending on background luminance.[5][30]
HLG is supported inHEVC with a formula that is mathematically equivalent to ARIB STD-B67 but has a nominal range of 0 to 1 instead of 0 to 12:[28]
where
Lc has a nominal range of 0 to 1 andV is the resulting nonlinear signal
the constantsa,b, andc are defined asa = 0.17883277,b = 1 - 4a = 0.28466892, andc = 0.5 -a ln(4a) = 0.55991073
On May 15, 2015, the BBC announced that they had begun work with the NHK to develop a joint HDR proposal that would be proposed to theInternational Telecommunication Union (ITU).[31] On June 9, 2015, HLG was proposed to the JCT-VC forHigh Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) and added to the June 2015 draft of the screen content coding extensions.[32][12]
Later that year,Sony showed HLG video on a modified HDR display at theSMPTE 2015 conference.[33][34]Colorfront announced that their Transkoder 2016 software would support HDR output using HLG.[35]LG announced that their 2015 4KOLED TVs would support HDR from HLG andperceptual quantizer (PQ).[36]Blackmagic Design released an update forDaVinci Resolve that added support for HLG.
TheUltra HD Forum announced their guidelines for UHD Phase A which includes support for HLG.[41][42] The Ultra HD Forum also defined HLG with a bit depth of 10-bits, and the Rec. 2020 color space.[42]
The ITU announcedRec. 2100 which defines two HDR transfer functions which are HLG and PQ.[5][30]
Digital UK published their 2017 specification forFreeview Play which includes support for HDR using HLG.[16]
TheDigital Video Broadcasting (DVB) Steering Board approved UHD-1 Phase 2 with an HDR solution that supports HLG and PQ.[6][43] The specification has been published as DVB Bluebook A157 and will be published by theETSI as TS 101 154 v2.3.1.[6][43]
HDMI announced that HLG support had been added to the HDMI 2.0b standard.[11][44][45]
Harmonic Inc. released an update for the ViBE 4K UHD encoder that added support for HLG.[47]
Canon Inc. announced that they will release firmware updates for the DP-V2410 and DP-V3010 reference displays to add support for HLG.[48]
Sony announced the PVM-X550 OLED monitor with support for HLG.[49] Sony also announced a firmware update for the BVM-X300 OLED monitor to add support for HLG.[49]
Sony announced that in October they would release a firmware update to add HLG to their BVM-X300 OLED monitor.[50]
Sony announced that their VPL-VW675ES projector would support HLG.[51]
The Trusted Reviews website reported thatSamsung had told them that all of their 2016 HDR TVs could support HLG with a firmware update.[52]
Atomos updated theirShogun Inferno product to include HLG input and output for recording, monitoring, editing and layout from cameras and computers as well as to HLG compatible TVs.[53]
ATSC released the video standard forATSC 3.0 which includes support for HLG.[7]
Hardware:
LG Corporation announced that their 2017 Super UHD TVs will support HLG.[62]
Panasonic announced that their 2017 OLED TV will support HLG.[63]
Sony announced that their 2017 OLED TVs will support HLG.[64]
JVC announced that their 2017 4K projectors will support HLG.[65]
LG Corporation announced that they will add support for HLG to their 2016 OLED TVs and their 2016 Super UHD TVs with a firmware update.[66]
Sony announced that they will add support for HLG to their 2017 4K TVs with a firmware update.[67]
Panasonic announced that they will add support for HLG to several models of their 2016 4K TVs with a firmware update.[68]
Philips announced that their 2017 4K TVs will support HLG and that they will add support for HLG to several models of their 2016 4K TVs with a firmware update.[69]
Sony began releasing firmware updates for several of their 2016 and 2017 Android TV models which adds support for HLG.[70]
Panasonic released firmware update 2.0 for thePanasonic Lumix DC-GH5 which added support for HLG recording.[71]
Panasonic began releasing firmware updates for several of their 2016 TV models which adds support for HLG.[72]
The BBC announced thatBlue Planet II would be available in 4K HDR on theBBC iPlayer using HLG.[17] Blue Planet II will be available on the BBC iPlayer service from December 10, 2017 to January 16, 2018.[77] The BBC states that almost 400 TV models have support for HLG which includes TV models fromFinlux,Hisense, Hitachi, LG, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sony, and Toshiba.[17][77]
DirecTV began broadcasting HLG HDR on their 4K Channels 104 and 106.[18][19]
Sky UK announced that their popularSky Q box will get HLG support from May 27, 2020.[80]
Apple released theiPhone 12 series with HLG video recording support viaDolby Vision profile 8.4, which adds a Dolby Vision metadata layer on top of HLG footage.[81]