Improved high dynamic range video coding with a nonlinearity based on natural image statistics

High Dynamic Range (HDR) technologies support the capture and presentation of a wider range of luminance values than conventional systems. An important element of video processing is the transfer function which should emulate human perception and this needs to be revisited for HDR content and displays. In the paper, we adapt a nonlinearity designed for the tone-mapping problem to the problem of video coding. We test the nonlinearity using the Motion Picture Experts Group methodology and find it can outperform existing methods in terms of HDR video quality measure.This work was partially supported by the European Research Council, Starting Grant ref. 306337, by the Spanish government and FEDER Fund, grant ref. TIN2015-71537-P (MINECO/FEDER,UE), and by the Icrea Academia Award