HGiG HDR Gaming Interest Group

What HGiG is

HGiG was organized by Microsoft Corporation and Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc., the two companies behind the major HDR gaming platforms, and "HGIG" is a registered trademark of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. The group's foundational document, For a Better HDR Gaming Experience — Best Practice Recommendations for Game HDR Creation, was first published on 15 August 2018 (Version 1.0) and updated to Version 1.1 on 11 July 2019.

The problem HGiG was created to address is variance. No HDR display can reproduce the full BT.2100 PQ luminance and color volume, so every TV applies its own roll-off curve to compress out-of-range highlights — and every manufacturer does it differently. The same scene on the same console can lose detail in bright areas (sometimes detail that matters for gameplay) depending on which TV is connected. HGiG's recommendation is to push the tone-mapping decision into the game engine itself, so creative intent for gameplay-critical detail survives across displays.

Metadata and HGiG mode

On the display side, the HGiG guideline tells the TV to preserve gradation between MinTML and MaxFFTML — its declared "Primary HDR range" — while in Game mode, instead of applying its own roll-off. On consumer TVs this surfaces as an HGiG option that, when selected, disables Dynamic Tone Mapping; LG warns the screen may look darker than with Tone Mapping ON because the TV is no longer compressing highlights above the panel's peak.

The handoff itself is parameterized by three luminance values supplied by the display: MaxToneMapLuminance (peak in a 10% window), MinToneMapLuminance (the dark-detail floor), and MaxFullFrameToneMapLuminance (peak in a 100% full-frame window). When per-model values are not available, the spec defines four Display Categories with default values — Category 1 at 0.1–600 nits, Category 2 at 0.1–1,000 nits, Category 3 at 0.1–4,000 nits, and Category 4 at 0–10,000 nits — and MaxFFTML is fixed at 600 nits across all four.

The console identifies the attached display (the spec example cites the EDID model ID) and looks up MaxTML, MinTML, and MaxFFTML in an internal database, then exposes those values to the game through an API. A calibration screen optionally lets the user override the database values — the mechanism behind the PS5 "Adjust HDR" flow and the Xbox HDR calibration app. The game then implements a parameterized tone mapper, using the Primary HDR range for objects that cover large parts of the screen and dipping into the Extended HDR range (up to MaxTML) for small-area highlights.

Ecosystem

The foundational best-practice document explicitly lists Xbox One S, Xbox One X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, and Windows 10 as the in-scope HDR-capable game platforms, and the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S inherit and extend that work via their console-side HDR calibration flows.

On the TV side, LG OLEDs expose HGiG as a Tone Mapping Compensation option inside Game Optimizer (webOS 6.0 and later), with an earlier path under Video Mode Settings → Advanced Settings on webOS 5.0. The setting is only available with Game Optimizer picture mode active and an HDMI source connected, and LG explicitly notes that selecting HGIG can make the screen look darker than Tone Mapping ON because the TV stops applying its own roll-off above the display's peak.

Beyond that, public details get thinner. HGiG's FAQ states that members may not be named without their written authorization, and no primary HGiG document confirms a complete signed-member roster — so a definitive list of TV brands and game publishers in the group cannot be cited from primary sources.

vs Dolby Vision Gaming

Under HGiG, the game's renderer tone-maps to the display's reported peak using a one-time parameter exchange (MaxTML / MinTML / MaxFFTML), and the TV passes the result through. Under Dolby Vision Gaming, the game emits dynamic per-scene Dolby Vision metadata and the Dolby Vision pipeline inside the TV handles the final mapping. The two are not architecturally mutually exclusive — some titles ship with both, exposed as separate user-selectable options rather than running simultaneously.

The structural difference is licensing. HGiG's founding agreement explicitly forbids the group from charging membership fees, requiring IP disclosure from members, or enforcing implementation, and there is no patent or trademark license program under HGiG. By design, it does not run a logo, certification, or compliance program; where Dolby Vision Gaming requires Dolby's licensing chain to display the Dolby Vision logo on a game, HGiG only publishes a recommended supporter statement, and any TV or game using its name does so without a formal trademark license. That is the structural reason HGiG is positioned as the open alternative to Dolby Vision Gaming.