1. A method of representing a digital image to provide a coded representation, said method including the steps of: transforming said digital image to derive a plurality of coefficients, each coefficient represented by a predefined bit sequence, wherein each bit of said bit sequence has a defined bitplane representing a position of said bit in said bit sequence; selecting a portion of said plurality of coefficients as a region; (a) scanning each bitplane of said selected region from a most significant bitplane towards a least significant bitplane to determine the significance of each bit plane within said selected region, and providing a first token for each insignificant bitplane and a second token for a significant bitplane in said coded representation until a significant bitplane is determined; (b) performing at least octave partitioning on said selected region to form two or more subregions, and setting each of said subregions as said selected region; and (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) commencing from said significant bitplane until a predetermined minimum bitplane has been reached, or said selected region has a predetermined size wherein said coefficients of said selected region are coded and provided in said coded representation.