A method of visual progressive coding for an image includes transforming the image into a set of transform coefficients; dividing the set of transform coefficients into bands, wherein each band includes a group of transform coefficients having the same visual characteristics; assigning a set of active weights to each band; generating coding units; identifying a set of candidate coding units; determining the significance of each candidate coding unit; determining the visual significance of each candidate coding unit; encoding those candidate coding units having the largest visual significance; and updating the active weights.