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Information about Megabyte

This article is about a unit of data. For the ReBoot character, see Megabyte (ReBoot).
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Quantities of bytes
SI prefixes Historical use Binary prefixes
Symbol
(name)		 Value  Symbol  Value Symbol
(name)		 Value
kB (kilobyte)10001 = 103KB10241 = 210KiB (kibibyte)210
MB (megabyte)10002 = 106MB10242 = 220MiB (mebibyte)220
GB (gigabyte)10003 = 109GB10243 = 230GiB (gibibyte)230
TB (terabyte)10004 = 1012TB10244 = 240TiB (tebibyte)240
PB (petabyte)10005 = 1015PB10245 = 250PiB (pebibyte)250
EB (exabyte)10006 = 1018EB10246 = 260EiB (exbibyte)260
ZB (zettabyte)10007 = 1021ZB10247 = 270ZiB (zebibyte)270
YB (yottabyte)10008 = 1024YB10248 = 280YiB (yobibyte)280
Legacy Units
Unit Value
KB210 Bytes = 1024 Bytes
MB220 Bytes = 1024 KB
GB230 Bytes = 1024 MB
TB240 Bytes = 1024 GB
A megabyte or Mbyte is a unit of information or computer storage equal to either 106 (1,000,000) bytes or 220 (1,048,576) bytes, depending on context. In rare cases, it is used to mean 1000×1024 (1,024,000) bytes. It is commonly abbreviated as Mbyte or MB (not to be confused with Mb, which is used for the megabit). The term megabyte was coined in 1970.[1]

Definition

The term "megabyte" is ambiguous because it is commonly used to mean either 1000² bytes or 1024² bytes. The confusion originated as compromise technical jargon for the byte multiples that needed to be expressed by the powers of 2 but lacked convenient naming. As 1024 (2¹º) is roughly equal to 1000 (10³), roughly corresponding SI multiples began to be used as approximate binary multiples. In the past few years, standards and government authorities including IEC, IEEE, EU, and NIST, have addressed this ambiguity by promoting the use of megabyte to describe strictly 1000² bytes and "mebibyte" to describe 1024² bytes. This shift is reflected in an increasing number of software projects, but most file managers still show file sizes as "megabytes" ("MB").

The term remains ambiguous and it can follow any one of the following common definitions:
  1. 1,000,000 bytes (1000², 106): This is the definition recommended by SI and IEC. This definition is used in networking contexts and most storage media, particularly hard drives, Flash-based storage, and DVDs, and is also consistent with the other uses of the SI prefix in computing, such as CPU clock speeds or measures of performance.
  2. 1,048,576 bytes (1024², 220): This definition is most commonly used in reference to computer memory, but most software that display file size or drive capacity, including file managers also use this definition. See Consumer confusion (in the "gigabyte" article).
  3. 1,024,000 bytes (1000×1024): This is used to describe the formatted capacity of USB flash drives and the "1.44 MB" 3.5 inch HD floppy disk, which actually has a 1440 KiB capacity, that is, 1,440×1,024 bytes, or 1,474,560 bytes.

Megabyte examples

Depending on compression methods and file format, a megabyte of data can roughly be:
  • a 1024×1024 pixel bitmap image with 8 bit (1 byte) color depth
  • 1 minute of 128 kbit/s MP3 compressed music.
  • 5.7 seconds of uncompressed CD audio
  • 100 pages of single-spaced 12 point font text in OpenOffice.org
  • a typical book volume in text format (500 pages × 2000 characters)

See also

External links

References

1. ^ "Megabyte."Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. 9th ed. 1983.
byte (pronounced /baɪt/) is a unit of measurement of information storage, most often consisting of eight bits. In many computer architectures it is a unit of memory addressing.
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An SI prefix (also known as a metric prefix) is a name or associated symbol that precedes a unit of measure (or its symbol) to form a decimal multiple or submultiple.
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In computing, binary prefixes can be used to quantify large numbers where powers of two are more useful than powers of ten (such as computer memory sizes). Each successive prefix is multiplied by 1024 (210) rather than the 1000 (103
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kilobyte (derived from the SI prefix kilo-, meaning 1,000) is a unit of information or computer storage equal to either 1,000 bytes or 1,024 bytes (210), depending on context.
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kibibyte (a contraction of kilo binary byte) is a unit of information or computer storage, established by the International Electrotechnical Commission in 2000. Its symbol is KiB.
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mebibyte (a contraction of mega binary byte) is a unit of information or computer storage, abbreviated MiB.

1 MiB = 220 bytes = 1,048,576 bytes = 1,024 kibibytes
1 MiB = 1024 (= 210

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gigabyte or Gbyte (derived from the SI prefix giga-) is a unit of information or computer storage meaning either 1000³ bytes or 1024³ bytes (1000³ = one billion). The usage of the word "gigabyte" is ambiguous, depending on the context.
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gibibyte (a contraction of giga binary byte) is a unit of information or computer storage, abbreviated GiB[1].

1 gibibyte = 230 bytes = 1,073,741,824 bytes = 1,024 mebibytes

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terabyte (derived from the prefix tera- and commonly abbreviated TB) is a measurement term for data storage capacity. The value of a terabyte is based upon a decimal radix (base 10) and is defined as one trillion (short scale) bytes, or 1000 gigabytes.
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tebibyte (a contraction of tera binary byte) is a unit of information or computer storage, abbreviated TiB.

1 tebibyte = 240 bytes = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes = 1,024 gibibytes

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petabyte (derived from the SI prefix peta- ) is a unit of information or computer storage equal to one quadrillion bytes. It is commonly abbreviated PB. When used with byte multiples, the prefix may indicate a power of either 1000 or 1024, so the exact number may be
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pebibyte (a contraction of peta binary byte) is a unit of information or computer storage, abbreviated PiB.

1 pebibyte = 250 bytes = 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes = 1,024 tebibytes

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exabyte (derived from the SI prefix exa-) is a unit of information or computer storage equal to one quintillion bytes. It is commonly abbreviated EB. When used with byte multiples, the SI prefix may indicate a power of either 1000 or 1024, so the exact number may be
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exbibyte (a contraction of exa binary byte) is a unit of information or computer storage, abbreviated EiB.

1 exbibyte = 260 bytes = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes = 1,024 pebibytes

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zettabyte (derived from the SI prefix zetta-) is a unit of information or computer storage equal to one sextillion (one long scale trilliard) bytes. It is commonly abbreviated ZB. As of 2007, no computer has one zettabyte of storage.
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zebibyte (a contraction of zetta binary byte) is a unit of information or computer storage, commonly abbreviated ZiB.

1 zebibyte = 270 bytes = 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 bytes = 1,024 exbibytes
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yottabyte (derived from the SI prefix yotta-) is a unit of information or computer storage equal to one septillion (one long scale quadrillion or 1024) bytes. It is commonly abbreviated YB. As of 2007, no computer has achieved one yottabyte of storage.
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yobibyte (a contraction of yotta binary byte) is a unit of information or computer storage, commonly abbreviated YiB.

1 yobibyte = 280 bytes = 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 bytes = 1,024 zebibytes
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Information is the result of processing, gathering, manipulating and organizing data in a way that adds to the knowledge of the receiver. In other words, it is the context in which data is taken.
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Computer data storage, computer memory, and often casually storage or memory refer to computer components, devices and recording media that retain digital data used for computing for some interval of time.
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byte (pronounced /baɪt/) is a unit of measurement of information storage, most often consisting of eight bits. In many computer architectures it is a unit of memory addressing.
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megabit is a unit of information, abbreviated Mbit or sometimes Mb.

1 megabit = 106 = 1,000,000 bits which is equal to 125,000 bytes or 125 kilobytes.

The megabit is most commonly used when referring to data transfer rates in network speeds, e.
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An SI prefix (also known as a metric prefix) is a name or associated symbol that precedes a unit of measure (or its symbol) to form a decimal multiple or submultiple.
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1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century
20s BC  10s BC  0s BC  - 0s -  10s  20s  30s
2 BC      1 BC     1  - 2 -   3   4   5

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The International Electrotechnical Commission[1] (IEC) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental international standards organization that prepares and publishes International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies – collectively known
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Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Type Professional Organization
Founded January 1, 1963
Origins Merger of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Institute of Radio Engineers
Key people Leah H.
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“EU” redirects here. For other uses, see EU (disambiguation).


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The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), known between 1901–1988 as the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce. The institute's mission is to promote U.S.
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mebibyte (a contraction of mega binary byte) is a unit of information or computer storage, abbreviated MiB.

1 MiB = 220 bytes = 1,048,576 bytes = 1,024 kibibytes
1 MiB = 1024 (= 210

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File Manager was a file manager program bundled with Microsoft Windows 3.0[1], Windows 3.1x, Windows NT 3.1, Windows NT 3.5 and Windows NT 3.51 to replace the previous MS-DOS Executive interface.

Ian Ellison-Taylor was the shell developer on the Windows 3.
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