The requirements of data coding in multimedia applications are presented, the current technique of coding and relative standards is introduced, then the work that have been doing is presented, i.e. the wavelet-based coding method and the VE (Visual Entropy)-based coding method. The experiment results prove that these methods have gained a better perceptual quality of a reconstructed image and a lower bit rate. Their performance evaluations are better than JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) coding. Finally, the future topics of study are put forward.