ENCODING METHOD, DECODING METHOD, ENCODER, DECODER, DIGITAL SIGNAL RECORDING METHOD AND DEVICE, STORAGE MEDIUM, AND DIGITAL SIGNAL TRANSMITTING METHOD AND DEVICE

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize efficient coding by considering the difference between the number of two-dimensional blocks having the bit allocation quantity other than a specific value and the value of the number information of two-dimensional blocks specified in several bits in advance, and determining the bit allocation quantity to minimize the difference. SOLUTION: A bit allocation calculating circuit 118 considers the difference between the number of two-dimensional blocks having the bit allocation quantity other than 0 and the value of the number information of two-dimensional blocks specified in several bits in advance, determines the bit allocation quantities for individual bands, and transmits them to adaptive bit allocation coding circuits 106-108. The adaptive bit allocation coding circuits 106-108 re-quantize spectrum data or MDCT coefficient data in response to the bit numbers allocated for split bands in consideration of the block size information, critical band and block floating. Coded data are fetched via output terminals 112, 114, 116.