diff --git a/encoder/src/dec.rs b/encoder/src/dec.rs
index 34f8771..a93fd4d 100644
--- a/encoder/src/dec.rs
+++ b/encoder/src/dec.rs
@@ -237,6 +237,41 @@ pub fn rle_vertical(_prev_frame: &Frame, encoded: &[u8], reader: &mut usize) ->
 	frame
 }
 
+pub fn rle_horizontal_ext(_prev_frame: &Frame, encoded: &[u8], reader: &mut usize) -> Frame {
+	let mut x = 0;
+	let mut y = 0;
+	let mut color = 0;
+	let mut i = 0;
+	let mut frame = FRAME_0;
+
+	while y < HEIGHT {
+		let byte = encoded[i];
+		i += 1;
+
+		let mut run = byte as u16;
+		if byte == 0 && encoded[i] == 0 {
+			// 16 bit run length
+			let upper = (encoded[i + 1] as u16) << 8;
+			if upper > 0 {
+				let lower = encoded[i + 2] as u16;
+				i += 3;
+				run = upper | lower;
+			}
+		}
+		for _ in 0..run {
+			frame[x][y] = color;
+			x += 1;
+			if x == WIDTH {
+				x = 0;
+				y += 1;
+			}
+		}
+		color = 1 - color;
+	}
+	*reader += i;
+	frame
+}
+
 pub fn rle_vertical_ext(_prev_frame: &Frame, encoded: &[u8], reader: &mut usize) -> Frame {
 	let mut x = 0;
 	let mut y = 0;
@@ -272,6 +307,48 @@ pub fn rle_vertical_ext(_prev_frame: &Frame, encoded: &[u8], reader: &mut usize)
 	frame
 }
 
+pub fn rle_vertical_var(_prev_frame: &Frame, encoded: &[u8], reader: &mut usize) -> Frame {
+	let mut x = 0;
+	let mut y = 0;
+	let mut color = 0;
+	let mut i = 0;
+	let mut frame = FRAME_0;
+
+	while x < WIDTH {
+		let byte = encoded[i];
+		i += 1;
+
+		let run;
+		if byte & 0xC0 == 0x80 {
+			// two-byte mode
+			let upper = (byte & 0x3f) as u32;
+			let lower = encoded[i] as u32;
+			i += 1;
+			run = (upper << 8) | lower;
+		} else if byte & 0xE0 == 0xC0 {
+			// 3-byte mode
+			let upper = (byte & 0x1f) as u32;
+			let mid = encoded[i] as u32;
+			let lower = encoded[i + 1] as u32;
+			i += 2;
+			run = (upper << 16) | (mid << 8) | lower;
+		} else {
+			run = byte as u32;
+		}
+		for _ in 0..run {
+			frame[x][y] = color;
+			y += 1;
+			if y == HEIGHT {
+				y = 0;
+				x += 1;
+			}
+		}
+		color = 1 - color;
+	}
+	*reader += i;
+	frame
+}
+
 pub fn rle_vertical_16(_prev_frame: &Frame, encoded: &[u8], reader: &mut usize) -> Frame {
 	let mut x = 0;
 	let mut y = 0;
@@ -301,7 +378,7 @@ pub fn rle_vertical_16(_prev_frame: &Frame, encoded: &[u8], reader: &mut usize)
 
 pub fn tree_16(_prev_frame: &Frame, encoded: &[u8], reader: &mut usize) -> Frame {
 	let fg = 1;
-	let mut frame = [[1-fg; HEIGHT]; WIDTH];
+	let mut frame = [[1 - fg; HEIGHT]; WIDTH];
 	let top_node = ((encoded[0] as u16) << 8) | encoded[1] as u16;
 	let mut i = 2;
 	let mut nodes = [0u16; 16];
@@ -313,14 +390,6 @@ pub fn tree_16(_prev_frame: &Frame, encoded: &[u8], reader: &mut usize) -> Frame
 				let node = ((encoded[i] as u16) << 8) | encoded[i + 1] as u16;
 				i += 2;
 				nodes[index] = node;
-				// temp fill for visualisation:
-				// for px in 0..(WIDTH / 4) {
-				// 	let x = cx * (WIDTH / 4) + px;
-				// 	for py in 0..(HEIGHT / 4) {
-				// 		let y = cy * (HEIGHT / 4) + py;
-				// 		frame[x][y] = 1;
-				// 	}
-				// }
 			}
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/encoder/src/enc.rs b/encoder/src/enc.rs
index 34ce77d..7f05285 100644
--- a/encoder/src/enc.rs
+++ b/encoder/src/enc.rs
@@ -280,6 +280,47 @@ pub fn rle_diff_vertical(prev_frame: &Frame, frame: &Frame) -> EncodedFrame {
 	}
 }
 
+pub fn rle_horizontal_ext(_prev_frame: &Frame, frame: &Frame) -> EncodedFrame {
+	let mut data = Vec::new();
+	let mut last_pixel = 0;
+	let mut run: u16 = 0;
+
+	let push_run = |data: &mut Vec<u8>, run| {
+		if run < 256 {
+			data.push(run as u8);
+		} else {
+			// double zero to mark 16 bit run length
+			data.push(0);
+			data.push(0);
+			data.push((run >> 8) as u8);
+			data.push((run & 0xff) as u8);
+		}
+	};
+
+	for y in 0..HEIGHT {
+			for x in 0..WIDTH {
+			let pixel = frame[x][y];
+			if pixel != last_pixel || run == 0xffff {
+				push_run(&mut data, run);
+				if run == 0xffff && pixel == last_pixel {
+					// inserting dummy run because we ran out of max len
+					data.push(0);
+				}
+				run = 1;
+			} else {
+				run += 1;
+			}
+			last_pixel = pixel;
+		}
+	}
+	push_run(&mut data, run);
+	EncodedFrame {
+		encoding: Encoding::RLEHorizontalExt,
+		data,
+	}
+}
+
+
 pub fn rle_horizontal(_prev_frame: &Frame, frame: &Frame) -> EncodedFrame {
 	let mut pixels = Vec::new();
 	for y in 0..HEIGHT {
@@ -413,6 +454,50 @@ pub fn rle_vertical_ext(_prev_frame: &Frame, frame: &Frame) -> EncodedFrame {
 	}
 }
 
+
+
+pub fn rle_vertical_var(_prev_frame: &Frame, frame: &Frame) -> EncodedFrame {
+	// variable bit count
+	// 0xxx xxxx 7 bits <=127
+	// 10xx xxxx xxxx xxxx 14 bits <= 16_383
+	// 110x xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx 21 bits <= 2_097_151
+	// no dummy zero-length runs needed, as the max length will not be reachable, even at 1080p resolution
+	let mut data = Vec::new();
+	let mut last_pixel = 0;
+	let mut run: u32 = 0;
+
+	let push_run = |data: &mut Vec<u8>, run| {
+		if run < 0x7f {
+			data.push(run as u8);
+		}else if run < 0x3fff {
+			data.push((run >> 8) as u8 | 0x80);
+			data.push(run as u8);
+		} else {
+			data.push((run >> 16) as u8 | 0xC0);
+			data.push((run >> 8 ) as u8);
+			data.push(run as u8);
+		}
+	};
+
+	for x in 0..WIDTH {
+		for y in 0..HEIGHT {
+			let pixel = frame[x][y];
+			if pixel != last_pixel{
+				push_run(&mut data, run);
+				run = 1;
+			} else {
+				run += 1;
+			}
+			last_pixel = pixel;
+		}
+	}
+	push_run(&mut data, run);
+	EncodedFrame {
+		encoding: Encoding::RLEVerticalVar,
+		data,
+	}
+}
+
 pub fn rle_vertical_16(_prev_frame: &Frame, frame: &Frame) -> EncodedFrame {
 	let mut data = Vec::new();
 	let mut last_pixel = 0;
diff --git a/encoder/src/main.rs b/encoder/src/main.rs
index e86f1fa..117ba84 100644
--- a/encoder/src/main.rs
+++ b/encoder/src/main.rs
@@ -11,15 +11,17 @@ pub use util::*;
 const INSPECT_ENC: bool = false;
 const INSPECT_DEC: bool = false;
 const MAX_ERROR: usize = 0; // max wrong pixels
-const MAX_LOSS: usize = 16; // highest "loss" value tried for all lossy encodings
+const MAX_LOSS: usize = 0; // highest "loss" value tried for all lossy encodings
 
 const LOSSLESS_ENCODINGS: &[FrameEncoder] = &[
 	enc::rle_horizontal,
+	enc::rle_horizontal_ext,
 	enc::rle_vertical,
 	enc::rle_vertical_ext,
+	enc::rle_vertical_var,
 	enc::rle_vertical_16,
-	// enc::rle_diff_horizontal,
-	// enc::rle_diff_vertical,
+	enc::rle_diff_horizontal,
+	enc::rle_diff_vertical,
 	// enc::bg_strips_horizontal_16, // only works for the tiny display
 	enc::bg_strips_horizontal_24, // intended for the 240x320 display
 	// enc::tree_16,// turns out to be useless
@@ -131,12 +133,6 @@ fn encode(frames: &[Frame]) -> Vec<u8> {
 				let decoded = decode(&last_frame, &encoded.data, &mut 0);
 				let error = frame_error(frame, &decoded);
 
-				// if error > 0 && loss == 0 {
-				// 	dbg!(&encoded);
-				// 	println!("{:?}, error: {error}, frame: {_i}", encoded.encoding);
-				// 	render_images(&frame, &decoded);
-				// 	panic!("error in 'loss 0' compression");
-				// }
 				if error <= MAX_ERROR {
 					options.push(encoded);
 				} else {
@@ -172,8 +168,10 @@ enum Encoding {
 	FillBlack,
 	FillWhite,
 	RLEHorizontal,
+	RLEHorizontalExt,
 	RLEVertical,
 	RLEVerticalExt,
+	RLEVerticalVar,
 	RLEVertical16,
 	RLEDiffHorizontal,
 	RLEDiffVertical,
@@ -198,8 +196,10 @@ fn get_matching_decoder(encoding: Encoding) -> FrameDecoder {
 		Encoding::FillWhite => dec::fill_white,
 		Encoding::FillBlack => dec::fill_black,
 		Encoding::RLEHorizontal => dec::rle_horizontal,
+		Encoding::RLEHorizontalExt => dec::rle_horizontal_ext,
 		Encoding::RLEVertical => dec::rle_vertical,
 		Encoding::RLEVerticalExt => dec::rle_vertical_ext,
+		Encoding::RLEVerticalVar => dec::rle_vertical_var,
 		Encoding::RLEVertical16 => dec::rle_vertical_16,
 		Encoding::RLEDiffHorizontal => dec::rle_diff_horizontal,
 		Encoding::RLEDiffVertical => dec::rle_diff_vertical,