The method comprises a coding of a source block according to a coding mode wherein the selection of the coding mode is carried out, for a source block, according to coding error estimations and source block coding cost estimations for the different coding modes tested, the coding error being estimated, for a coding mode, according to the sum of the absolute values of coefficients obtained after a mathematical transformation in the frequency domain of the residue block related to this coding mode and as a function of the sum of absolute values of quantized coefficients corresponding to this coding mode. An application is the decision of the coding mode for data using the MPEG 2 or MPEG4-AVC standard.