Abstract: Coded transmission is a technique that gives significant improvement in SNR and enables higher contrast imaging without sacrificing the resolution. A novel HF (20-35 MHz) ultrasound real-time imaging system for research and evaluation of the coded transmission was developed. The digital programmable coder-digitizer module based on the field programmable gate array (FPGA) chip supports arbitrary waveform coded transmission and RF echoes sampling up to 200 MSPS. A novel balanced software architecture supports real-time RF processing and display at rates up to 30 frames/sec. The system was used to gather data for sine burst and 16-bit Golay code excitation using a single element scanning head with thick film focused spherical transducer 25 MHz center frequency and 56% system bandwidth. SNR gain for the Golay codes (referenced to single burst) of 15 dB for 20 MHz and 16 dB for 35 MHz were obtained. In water the axial resolution for both single burst and the Golay codes was the same FWMH=20 ns at 20 MHz and FWMH=15 ns at 35 MHz. The presented system is a practical and low cost implementation of coded excitation technique in HF ultrasound imaging.