In echocardiography wide-dynamic-range (∼90 dB) ultrasonic signals must be compressed for display to ∼15 dB with minimum image distortion. Large dynamic range is caused by absorption, scattering, dispersion, and by reflection from cardiac interfaces at varying angles of incidence. Echo levels in sector-scanning echocardiography differ with look angle, precluding operator adjustment. Thus, sector scanners need adaptive TVG profiles, or AGC. A digital, real-time, adaptive TVG for sector-scanning echocardiography is described herein. This technique is not subject to analog realizability constraints. The described adaptive TVG uses image data stored in a minicomputer to calculate a slowly varying TVG profile which commands a voltage controlled amplifier. The gain-profile algorithm is basic to the adaptive TVG. The grey-scale display quality of the echo output of the voltage controlled amplifier is examined and discussed. Alternatively, the technique permits the TVG input to be numerically recovered off-line and normalized relative to the average level in the neighborhood of each image point. Preliminary echocardiographic tests are discussed using one-dimensional data. The multidimensional adaptive TVG technique is currently being implemented in a scanning echocardiographic camera. [Work partially supported by NIH Grant 1 R01 HL20872-01.]