Patent ID: 7145567

Claim:
A method for reading a bitstream of m-bit image data, wherein the bitstream comprises, for each frame of image data, a first data portion including n most significant bits of the m-bit image data for all pixels in the frame in a contiguous block, wherein n is an integer and a power of two, a second data portion including k least significant bits of the m-bit image data for all pixels in the frame in a contiguous block, wherein k equals the difference between m and n, wherein the first data portion ends on a memory boundary; and wherein the second data portion precedes and is contiguous with the first data portion in the bitstream, the method for reading comprising: accessing an n-bit representation for a single frame of image data, including: determing an offset and a size of the n-bit representation for the single frame in the bitstream; rounding the offset down to the nearest memory boundary; rounding the size up to the nearest boundary; and performing a read operation on the bitstream using the rounded offset and rounded size.