1. A method of encoding PET scintillation events incident on a scintillation crystal block detector array of a PET system, comprising: dividing scintillation crystals of said block detector array into a center region over a centroid of a scintillation crystal of a PET detector and a plurality of radial regions surrounding said center region; calculating position coordinates of a scintillation event incident on a crystal of said block detector array; mapping said calculated position coordinates to said regions; encoding said scintillation event with a predetermined identification code corresponding to the region to which said position coordinates are mapped.