Research on high-temperature superconducting cuprates is at present focused on identifying the relationship between the classic 'pseudogap'phenomenon and the more recently investigated density wave state. This state is generally characterized by a wavevector Q parallel to the planar Cu-O-Cu bonds along with a predominantly d-symmetry form factor (dFF-DW). To identify the microscopic mechanism giving rise to this state, one must identify the momentum-space states contributing to the dFF-DW spectral weight, determine their particle-hole phase relationship about the Fermi energy, establish whether they exhibit a characteristic energy gap, and understand the evolution of all these phenomena throughout the phase diagram. Here we use energy-resolved sublattice visualization of electronic structure and reveal that the characteristic energy of the dFF-DW modulations is actually the 'pseudogap' energy Δ1. Moreover, we demonstrate that the dFF-DW modulations at E=-Δ1 (filled states) occur with relative phase φ compared to those at E=Δ1 (empty states). Finally, we show that the conventionally defined dFF-DW Q corresponds to scattering between the 'hot frontier'regions of momentum-space beyond which Bogoliubov quasiparticles cease to exist. These data indicate that the cuprate dFF-DW state involves particle-hole interactions focused at the pseudogap energy scale and between the four pairs of 'hot frontier'regions in momentum space where the pseudogap opens. © 2016 Macmillan Publishers Limited.