Techniques for synchronizing error concealment during video decoding include determining a decoding error. A recovery point within a current frame is determined for each decoding error. The determined recovery point may be the start of the next good slice of a frame after the current frame containing the error. The number of macroblock to be concealed is also determined. The determined number of macroblocks from the recovery point may then be concealed in hardware or software. The techniques for concealing errors may also include determining available macroblocks for use in concealing the error. The techniques for concealing errors may further include selecting a given concealment mode.