A system is provided for determining a binary codeword for a symbol representing a transform coefficient within transform units (TUs) that divide up coding units (CUs) in a High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) system. The system determines a truncated rice prefix and, when a parameter variable is greater than zero, determines a truncated rice suffix for the symbol. The system determines a main prefix either from the truncated rice prefix alone, or from a combination of the truncated rice prefix and the truncated rice suffix. When the main prefix is the same as a comparison string, the system also determines a main suffix. The system determines the final binary codeword for the symbol either from the main prefix alone, or from a combination of the main prefix and the main suffix.