1. A method for encoding a sequence of frames as one or more compressed bitstreams, the method comprising: obtaining, by a processor, a sequence of frames in an order; performing a wavelet transform on each frame of the sequence of frames independently in the order, wherein performing a wavelet transform comprises calculating a spatial discrete wavelet transform for each frame and organizing the spatial discrete wavelet transforms into subbands comprising contiguous groups of coefficients, wherein the coefficients represent difference frequencies; constructing a significant points list and a list of insignificant sets and creating one or more spatial trees comprised of branch nodes of the list of insignificant sets for each frame of the sequence of frames and identifying a most significant bit in each frame; initializing the significant points list and the list of insignificant sets for each frame; for each frame, designating a spatial orientation tree group as a coding unit, wherein each coding unit comprises a frame of the sequence of frames, wherein the designating comprises: dividing, by the processor, a subband of lowest frequency groups from the subbands comprising contiguous groups of coefficients, wherein each spatial orientation tree group comprises roots of spatial orientation trees, such that each group of spatial orientation trees forms a coding unit; creating, by the processor, a progressive significance map for the coding unit by searching the one or more spatial trees, the progressive significance map comprising a sum part and a complementary part, wherein the sum part indicates numbers of significant sets emanating from certain of the branch nodes of each of the one or more spatial trees, and wherein the complementary part identifies location patterns of the significant sets emanating from certain of the branch nodes of each of the one or more spatial trees and writing the progressive significance map to the one or more compressed bitstreams; writing a global header for each of the one or more compressed bitstreams, wherein the global header comprises parameters of the sequence of frames; and writing a local header for the one or more compressed bitstreams for each coding unit of the sequence of frames, wherein the local header for each coding unit comprises indicators of sizes in bitstream segments for the coding unit, wherein the local header indicates transitions between frames in the sequence of frame and the order.