Method and apparatus for detecting and significantly correcting bit errors in a pulse code modulated video signal (10) which recognizes the unique spectral characteristics of isolated bit errors in a digital bit stream, which errors generate spectral energy outside the frequency band of the PCM video signal, and utilizes that energy to detect and correct errors without the use of overhead bits. The timing and the amplitude of any energy burst at F s / 2 indicates the location and significance of any one of the four most significant bits in a word of the video signal which is in error, where F s is the PCM sampling frequency.