Techniques are described for improving transform coding. For example, an encoded block of video data can be obtained, and a width and/or a height of the block can be determined. The width can be compared to a first threshold and/or the height can be compared to a second threshold. A horizontal transform and a vertical transform can be determined for the block based on comparing the width of the block to the first threshold and/or the height of the block to the second threshold. The horizontal transform and the vertical transform are determined without decoding a syntax element that indicates the horizontal transform and the vertical transform (e.g., the syntax element is not in an encoded video bitstream processed by a decoding device). In some cases, residual data is determined using the horizontal and vertical transforms, and a video block is determined using the residual data and a predictive block.