A system is provided for creating level parameter updating codewords for transform coefficients used for relating transform units (TUs) that divide up coding units (CUs) in a High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) system. The system provides binarization of the codewords and removes unnecessary operations to reduce system complexity and increase compression performance. The system generates transform coefficients that relate the TUs and begins by providing a parameter variable (cRiceParam) set to an initial value of zero. The parameter variable is then converted into a binary codeword based on the current value of the parameter variable and the value of a symbol and then updated with a new current value after each symbol has been converted. Updating can be provided with reference to table values or the values can be provided from combination logic.