A seamless bitstream switching schema is presented. The schema takes advantage of both the high coding efficiency of non-scalable bitstreams and the flexibility of scalable bitstreams. Small bandwidth fluctuations are accommodated by the scalability of the bitstreams, while large bandwidth fluctuations are tolerated by switching among scalable bitstreams. This seamless bitstream switching schema significantly improves the efficiency of scalable video coding over a broad range of bit rates.