1. A system for decoding video data, said system comprising: a compressed data buffer memory comprising a plurality of data words, for storing a start code starting at a byte in a middle portion of a particular one of the data words; a table for storing a starting address associated with the byte; a direct memory access module for providing data from the memory starting from the starting address in the middle portion of the data word; a video decompression engine for decompressing the data from the memory starting from the starting address in the middle portion of the data word, thereby resulting in decompressed video data; and a frame buffer for storing the decompressed video data; and wherein the direct memory access module further comprises: a buffer comprising a plurality of data words for storing the video data from the starting address; a first masking register for discarding a portion of a first data structure that precedes the starting address, the first masking register comprises a plurality of bytes corresponding to byte positions of the data words; and a state machine for loading the first masking register with a pattern wherein each byte of the plurality of bytes in the first mask register that corresponds to a byte position that is less than the four least significant bits of the starting address are loaded with a first value, and wherein each byte of the plurality of bytes in the first mask register that corresponds to a byte position that is equal or greater than the four least significant bits of the starting address are loaded with a second value.