Abstract: To overcome the shortcoming ofwavelet zero-tree coding algorithms,i. e., the hardware implementation ofSPIHT (setpartitioning in hierarchical trees) algorithm needs toomanymemories, a listless SPIHT algorithm wasproposed. In this algorithm, waveletcoefficients are input into an encoder in the SPIHT order, and then they are coded by using the NLS (no list SPIHT) algorithm. In addition, the 9/7 lifting schemes and uniform quantization are employed, and the adding zeromethod is applied forborder extension of images. The experimental results show that the compression ratio of the proposed algorithm is almostthe same as thatof theEBCOT(embedded block codingwith optimized truncation) algorithm of JPEG2000, but its running speed is two times that of the EBCOT algorithm. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm needs fewermemories, such as only an additional 17. 875 KB memory for a 512×512 image.