Particular embodiments include a method, an apparatus, and logic embodied in tangible computer-readable medium that when executed carries out a method of encoding an ordered sequence of quantized transform coefficients of a block of image data. One embodiment is a context adaptive variable length coding method that includes position coding the positions of zero-valued and non-zero valued coefficients by either a mixed method that encodes either the run length of zeroes preceding a non-zero coefficient or the run length of nonzero-valued coefficients preceding a zero-valued coefficients. Another includes position coding that uses a variable length code for two parameters respectively indicating the number of zero-valued coefficient positions and nonzero-valued coefficient positions still to be coded.