Gammakomprimierte

Gammakomprimierte describes data or signals that have undergone gamma compression, a non-linear mapping used to reduce the dynamic range of digital values in order to better match the human visual system. In imaging and video, this is typically achieved by applying a transfer function that compresses bright values and expands darker ones in a way that preserves perceptual differences within the available bit depth. In practice, a power-law transfer is used: encoding applies a function related to 1/γ, while the display or decoder applies the inverse γ to recover linear luminance. For common display pipelines, γ is often close to 2.2–2.4, and spaces such as sRGB are described as gamma-encoded rather than linear.

Gammakomprimierte data are widespread in consumer electronics and digital media. They appear in still images, video streams, and file formats that assume a non-linear encoding to optimize storage, bandwidth, and perceptual quality. By allocating more code values to darker tones, gamma compression can improve detail perception in shadows and reduce banding in rounded gradients.

In practice, gamma compression interacts with color management and device calibration. Misalignment of gamma curves across cameras, displays, and editing software can lead to color shifts or tonal inconsistencies. The term is used primarily in German-language technical literature and is related to broader concepts of gamma correction, tone mapping, and perceptual encoding.