Method and apparatus for transmitting a coded video signal

A method and apparatus for transmitting a digitally encoded video image in real time wherein the video image is digitally encoded using a compression algorithm having a variable bit rate, e.g., JPEG2K, to provide an encoded data stream, the encoded data stream is fed into a buffer of known size, and the data is read from the buffer via a streamer with a controllable bit rate to provide a bit stream at a desired stream bit rate for transmission. The bit rate of the encoded data stream from the encoder is monitored by a predictor and predicts a future bit rate of the encoded data stream; and, the bit rate of at least one of the encoder and the streamer is adjusted to provide the desired streaming bit rate wherein the predicting of the future bit rate is carried out using a prediction model based on a smoothed bit rate vs. time curve of the encoded data stream.