1. A method for scaling an input image, comprising the steps of: (a) selecting a scale factor X, wherein 2.sup.n &lt;X&lt;2.sup.n+1 and n is an integer; (b) selecting a scale factor Y, wherein Y is one of 2.sup.n and 2.sup.n+1 ; (c) scaling the input image according to the scale factor Y to generate a first scaled image; and (d) scaling the first scaled image according to the scale factor X to generate an output image.