In the RESUME project (Reconfigurable Embedded Systems for Use in Multimedia Environments) we explore the benefits of an implementation of scalable multimedia applications using reconfigurable hardware by building an FPGA implementation of a scalable wavelet-based video decoder. The term `scalable` refers to a design that can easily accommodate changes in quality of service with minimal computational overhead. This is important for portable devices that have different Quality of Service (QoS) requirements and have varying power restrictions.