Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for dynamically allocating bandwidth to each encoder in an ensemble of video encoders whose output bit streams share a single communications channel. In accordance with the present invention, the channel bandwidth is allocated to the individual encoders in the ensemble in such a way that differences in a quality measure among the decoders are reduced. The quality measure includes a term that behaves like a peak-signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and a term that measures the "masking effect" in a video signal. The "masking effect" results because an encoded frame with a high visual complexity masks coding artifacts from the viewer when it is decoded and displayed.