diff --git a/ext/opencv/cvmat.cpp b/ext/opencv/cvmat.cpp
index d419721..953cdbc 100644
--- a/ext/opencv/cvmat.cpp
+++ b/ext/opencv/cvmat.cpp
@@ -383,6 +383,9 @@ void define_ruby_class()
 
   rb_define_method(rb_klass, "save_image", RUBY_METHOD_FUNC(rb_save_image), 1);
   rb_define_alias(rb_klass, "save", "save_image");
+
+  rb_define_method(rb_klass, "encode_image", RUBY_METHOD_FUNC(rb_encode_imageM), -1);
+  rb_define_alias(rb_klass, "encode", "encode_image");
 }
 
 
@@ -463,6 +466,75 @@ rb_load_imageM(int argc, VALUE *argv, VALUE self)
   return OPENCV_OBJECT(rb_klass, mat);
 }
 
+/*
+ * call-seq:
+ *   encode_image(ext [,params]) -> Array<Integer>
+ *
+ * Encodes an image into a memory buffer.
+ *
+ * Parameters:
+ *   ext <String> - File extension that defines the output format ('.jpg', '.png', ...)
+ *   params <Hash> - Format-specific parameters.
+ */
+VALUE
+rb_encode_imageM(int argc, VALUE *argv, VALUE self)
+{
+  VALUE _ext, _params;
+  rb_scan_args(argc, argv, "11", &_ext, &_params);
+  Check_Type(_ext, T_STRING);
+  const char* ext = RSTRING_PTR(_ext);
+  CvMat* buff = NULL;
+  int* params = NULL;
+
+  if (!NIL_P(_params)) {
+    Check_Type(_params, T_HASH);
+    const int flags[] = {
+      CV_IMWRITE_JPEG_QUALITY,
+      CV_IMWRITE_PNG_COMPRESSION,
+      CV_IMWRITE_PNG_STRATEGY,
+      CV_IMWRITE_PNG_STRATEGY_DEFAULT,
+      CV_IMWRITE_PNG_STRATEGY_FILTERED,
+      CV_IMWRITE_PNG_STRATEGY_HUFFMAN_ONLY,
+      CV_IMWRITE_PNG_STRATEGY_RLE,
+      CV_IMWRITE_PNG_STRATEGY_FIXED,
+      CV_IMWRITE_PXM_BINARY
+    };
+    const int flag_size = sizeof(flags) / sizeof(int);
+
+    params = ALLOCA_N(int, RHASH_SIZE(_params) * 2);
+    for (int i = 0, n = 0; i < flag_size; i++) {
+      VALUE val = rb_hash_lookup(_params, INT2FIX(flags[i]));
+      if (!NIL_P(val)) {
+	params[n] = flags[i];
+	params[n + 1] = NUM2INT(val);
+	n += 2;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  try {
+    buff = cvEncodeImage(ext, CVMAT(self), params);
+  }
+  catch (cv::Exception& e) {
+    raise_cverror(e);
+  }
+
+  const int size = buff->rows * buff->cols;
+  VALUE array = rb_ary_new2(size);
+  for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
+    rb_ary_store(array, i, CHR2FIX(CV_MAT_ELEM(*buff, char, 0, i)));
+  }
+
+  try {
+    cvReleaseMat(&buff);
+  }
+  catch (cv::Exception& e) {
+    raise_cverror(e);
+  }
+
+  return array;
+}
+
 /*
  * nodoc
  */
diff --git a/ext/opencv/cvmat.h b/ext/opencv/cvmat.h
index 2b1ba31..5e82442 100644
--- a/ext/opencv/cvmat.h
+++ b/ext/opencv/cvmat.h
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ void define_ruby_class();
 VALUE rb_allocate(VALUE klass);
 VALUE rb_initialize(int argc, VALUE *argv, VALUE self);
 VALUE rb_load_imageM(int argc, VALUE *argv, VALUE self);
+VALUE rb_encode_imageM(int argc, VALUE *argv, VALUE self);
 
 VALUE rb_method_missing(int argc, VALUE *argv, VALUE self);
 VALUE rb_to_s(VALUE self);
diff --git a/ext/opencv/opencv.cpp b/ext/opencv/opencv.cpp
index 0cc616e..30d4958 100644
--- a/ext/opencv/opencv.cpp
+++ b/ext/opencv/opencv.cpp
@@ -188,6 +188,17 @@ define_ruby_module()
   rb_define_const(rb_module, "CV_LOAD_IMAGE_ANYDEPTH", INT2FIX(CV_LOAD_IMAGE_ANYDEPTH));
   rb_define_const(rb_module, "CV_LOAD_IMAGE_ANYCOLOR", INT2FIX(CV_LOAD_IMAGE_ANYCOLOR));
 
+  /* Format-specific save parameters */
+  rb_define_const(rb_module, "CV_IMWRITE_JPEG_QUALITY", INT2FIX(CV_IMWRITE_JPEG_QUALITY));
+  rb_define_const(rb_module, "CV_IMWRITE_PNG_COMPRESSION", INT2FIX(CV_IMWRITE_PNG_COMPRESSION));
+  rb_define_const(rb_module, "CV_IMWRITE_PNG_STRATEGY", INT2FIX(CV_IMWRITE_PNG_STRATEGY));
+  rb_define_const(rb_module, "CV_IMWRITE_PNG_STRATEGY_DEFAULT", INT2FIX(CV_IMWRITE_PNG_STRATEGY_DEFAULT));
+  rb_define_const(rb_module, "CV_IMWRITE_PNG_STRATEGY_FILTERED", INT2FIX(CV_IMWRITE_PNG_STRATEGY_FILTERED));
+  rb_define_const(rb_module, "CV_IMWRITE_PNG_STRATEGY_HUFFMAN_ONLY", INT2FIX(CV_IMWRITE_PNG_STRATEGY_HUFFMAN_ONLY));
+  rb_define_const(rb_module, "CV_IMWRITE_PNG_STRATEGY_RLE", INT2FIX(CV_IMWRITE_PNG_STRATEGY_RLE));
+  rb_define_const(rb_module, "CV_IMWRITE_PNG_STRATEGY_FIXED", INT2FIX(CV_IMWRITE_PNG_STRATEGY_FIXED));
+  rb_define_const(rb_module, "CV_IMWRITE_PXM_BINARY", INT2FIX(CV_IMWRITE_PXM_BINARY));
+
   /* Types of morphological operations */
   rb_define_const(rb_module, "CV_MOP_OPEN", INT2FIX(CV_MOP_OPEN));
   rb_define_const(rb_module, "CV_MOP_CLOSE", INT2FIX(CV_MOP_CLOSE));
diff --git a/test/test_cvmat.rb b/test/test_cvmat.rb
index 56ee0d4..403e3f9 100755
--- a/test/test_cvmat.rb
+++ b/test/test_cvmat.rb
@@ -103,6 +103,38 @@ class TestCvMat < OpenCVTestCase
     File.delete filename
   end
 
+  def test_encode
+    mat = CvMat.load(FILENAME_CAT);
+
+    jpg = mat.encode('.jpg')
+    assert_equal('JFIF', jpg[6, 4].map(&:chr).join) # Is jpeg format?
+
+    jpg = mat.encode('.jpg', CV_IMWRITE_JPEG_QUALITY => 10)
+    assert_equal('JFIF', jpg[6, 4].map(&:chr).join)
+
+    png = mat.encode('.png')
+    assert_equal('PNG', png[1, 3].map(&:chr).join) # Is png format?
+
+    png = mat.encode('.png', CV_IMWRITE_PNG_COMPRESSION => 9)
+    assert_equal('PNG', png[1, 3].map(&:chr).join)
+
+    assert_raise(TypeError) {
+      mat.encode(DUMMY_OBJ)
+    }
+    assert_raise(TypeError) {
+      mat.encode('.jpg', DUMMY_OBJ)
+    }
+
+    # Uncomment the following lines to see the result images
+    #
+    # open('test-jpeg.jpg', 'wb') { |f|
+    #   f.write jpg.pack("c*")
+    # }
+    # open('test-png.png', 'wb') { |f|
+    #   f.write png.pack("c*")
+    # }
+  end
+
   def test_GOOD_FEATURES_TO_TRACK_OPTION
     assert_equal(0xff, CvMat::GOOD_FEATURES_TO_TRACK_OPTION[:max])
     assert_nil(CvMat::GOOD_FEATURES_TO_TRACK_OPTION[:mask])