A new concept of charge quantization and pulse-rate measurement was developed to monitor low-level gamma dose rates using energy-sensitive, air-equivalent counters. Applying this concept, the charge from each detected photon is quantized by level-sensitive comparators so that the resulting total output pulse rate is proportional to dose rate. The concept was tested with a proportional counter and a solid-state detector for wide-range dose-rate monitoring applications. The prototypic monitors cover a dose-rate range from background radiation levels 10 ..mu..R/h) to 10 R/h
