Abstract: A method and device for the numerical coding of an image, more particularly a television image, made up of pixels (elementary points) which are regularly distributed in the plane of the image, and to which one or more radiometric qualities denoted as components C.sub.i are allotted. In the image, windows (f) are determined which have a predetermined geometrical shape and comprise a certain number of pixels (p); for each window regroupings are carried out into classes (R1,R2 . . . ) of radiometries (spectral or spatial) of the ends of the vectors representing the pixels or combinations of pixels of the image in space of N dimensions, in accordance with a criterion of proximity; for each class (R1,R2 . . . ) from the individual values of the pixels forming the class, N typical radiometries are defined which will be stored or transmitted to be used in the reconstruction of the image; to define each pixel, a characteristic code of the class (R1,R2 . . .