Conventional imaging devices are often compared using their optical transfer functions (OTFs) in space and their impulse responses in time. Modulated polarimeters cannot be directly compared this way, since they are frequency multiplexed. Here we define a spectral density response function that describes how the spectral density matrix of the Stokes parameters for an object transfers through a modulated polarimeter. This response function facilitates the objective comparison of polarimeters in a way that is analogous to the OTF for conventional imaging systems. The spectral density response is used to calculate a Wiener filter for a rotating analyzer polarimeter as an example of filter optimization for modulated polarimetry.