1. An apparatus for encoding an image comprising a pixel matrix, said pixel matrix comprising pixels, wherein a pixel is represented by a first number of bits, the apparatus comprising: a determining element for defining two or more blocks of pixels from the pixel matrix, said determining element being further configured to define one starting point for each block of pixels, said starting point comprising one or more pixels; an encoding element configured to process the pixels of one block at a time to form encoded pixel values, wherein an encoded pixel value is represented by a second number of bits; the apparatus being configured to encode said one or more pixels of the starting point without using information of other pixels, and to encode other pixels of the same block by predicting the pixel value on a basis of a previously decoded pixel; and a bit string composer for forming bit strings on the basis of the encoded pixel values.