In this paper, a structure of a hybrid highly scalable video encoder with fine granularity scalability in a scheme based on a modified version of the classic MPEG-2 scalable encoder is proposed. The assumption is that high level of compatibility with the MPEG video coding standards would be ensured. In particular, it is assumed that the low-resolution base layer bitstream is fully compatible with the MPEG-2 standard. The proposed scalable coder exhibits good satisfactory coding performance. These results are much better than those usually obtained for standard scalable profiles of MPEG-2.