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8,388,608 bits (1,024 kibibytes), one of a few traditional meanings of megabyte: 10 7: 11,520,000 bits – capacity of a lower-resolution computer monitor (as of 2006), 800 × 600 pixels, 24 bpp: 11,796,480 bits – capacity of a 3.5 in floppy disk, colloquially known as 1.44 megabyte but actually 1.44 × 1000 × 1024 bytes 2 24: 16,777,216 ...
A binary prefix is a unit prefix that indicates a multiple of a unit of measurement by an integer power of two.The most commonly used binary prefixes are kibi (symbol Ki, meaning 2 10 = 1024), mebi (Mi, 2 20 = 1 048 576), and gibi (Gi, 2 30 = 1 073 741 824).
In the context of computing, the metric prefixes are often intended to mean something other than their normal meaning. For example, a kilobyte is actually 1024 bytes even though the standard meaning of kilo is 1000. And, mega normally means one million, but in computing is often used to mean 2 20 = 1 048 576. The table below illustrates the ...
The tenth power of 2 (2 10) has the value 1024, which is close to 1000. This has prompted the use of the metric prefixes kilo, mega, and giga to also denote the powers of 1024 which is common in information technology with the unit of digital information, the byte. Units of information are not covered in the International System of Units.
As 1024 (2 10) approximates 1000 (10 3), roughly corresponding to the SI prefix kilo-, it was a convenient term to denote the binary multiple. In 1999, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) published standards for binary prefixes requiring the use of megabyte to denote 1000 2 bytes, and mebibyte to denote 1024 2 bytes.
The term 'kilobyte' has traditionally been used to refer to 1024 bytes (2 10 B). [5] [6] [7] The usage of the metric prefix kilo for binary multiples arose as a convenience, because 1024 is approximately 1000. [8] The binary interpretation of metric prefixes is still prominently used by the Microsoft Windows operating system. [9]
As 1024 (2 10) is approximately 1000 (10 3), roughly corresponding to SI multiples, it was used for binary multiples as well. In 1998 the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) published standards for binary prefixes , requiring that the gigabyte strictly denote 1000 3 bytes and gibibyte denote 1024 3 bytes.
Conversions between units in the metric system are defined by their prefixes (for example, 1 kilogram = 1000 grams, 1 milligram = 0.001 grams) and are thus not listed in this article. Exceptions are made if the unit is commonly known by another name (for example, 1 micron = 10 −6 metre).