An improved scalar embedded graphics coding (EGC) for wireless HD compression is described herein. The image frame to be encoded is divided into blocks, which are further divided into color groups. These groups are encoded one bit plane at a time. The improved scalar EGC method and system uses shared grouping data among color components, but bit planes of each color are separately encoded. Further, during encoding a second-level grouping is able to occur on the splitting signaling of the groups. The system and method described herein retain the simplicity of scalar EGC and attain an efficiency comparable to vector EGC.