A system and method for transmitting frames of video data to a display. Each frame is divided up into blocks, and the data from each of the resulting blocks is coded using temporal reference coding, along with intraframe coding. In one embodiment a difference block is formed by taking the difference between a block in a second frame of a sequence of frames, and a corresponding block, in the same position, in a first frame of the sequence of frames. The difference block is coded using intraframe coding, to form a coded difference block. The coded difference block is transmitted to a display; processing hardware in the display reconstructs the sequence of frames.