A system and method for transferring images among spectrum agile radio devices without the need to retransmit image data. The system and method of the invention encodes and transmits packets so as to permit the efficient recovery of image data that is lost during transmission without the need to retransmit the packets. Instead of encoding packets containing adjacent pixels and transmitting them line-by-line, the system and method of the present invention encodes and transmits packets containing pixels from non-adjacent areas of a frame. As a result, any losses that occur within an individual packet are distributed throughout the image rather than in a specific line or isolated region of the image. This permits the efficient recovery of image data that is lost during transmission without the need to retransmit the data.