Patent ID: 7724827

Claim:
In a computing device that implements a video encoder, a method comprising: with the computing device that implements the video encoder, encoding one or more video images, including processing run-level information in a two-layer representation for a sequence of values for the one or more video images, wherein the processing includes: run-level encoding the sequence of values as a sequence of plural first-layer run-level pairs that include plural first-layer runs and plural first-layer levels; and run-level encoding a sequence of the plural first-layer runs as a sequence of one or more second-layer run-level pairs, wherein each of the one or more second-layer run-level pairs includes a second-layer run and a second-layer level, the second-layer run representing a count of consecutive first-layer runs classified as having an insignificant run value, and the second-layer level representing a single adjacent first-layer run classified as having a significant run value; and from the computing device that implements the video encoder, outputting a result of the encoding the one or more video images.