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File size is a measure of how much data a computer file contains or how much storage space it is allocated. Typically, file size is expressed in units based on byte . A large value is often expressed with a metric prefix (as in megabyte and gigabyte ) or a binary prefix (as in mebibyte and gibibyte ).
Some programs and operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows, still use "MB" and "GB" to denote binary prefixes even when displaying disk drive capacities and file sizes, as did Classic Mac OS. Thus, for example, the capacity of a "10 MB" (decimal "M") disk drive could be reported as " 9.56 MB ", and that of a "300 GB" drive as "279.4 GB".
In this convention, one thousand and twenty-four megabytes (1024 MB) is equal to one gigabyte (1 GB), where 1 GB is 1024 3 bytes (i.e., 1 GiB). Mixed 1 MB = 1 024 000 bytes (= 1000×1024 B) is the definition used to describe the formatted capacity of the 1.44 MB 3.5-inch HD floppy disk , which actually has a capacity of 1 474 560 bytes .
These prefixes are more often used for multiples of bytes, as in kilobyte (1 kB = 8000 bit), megabyte (1 MB = 8 000 000 bit), and gigabyte (1 GB = 8 000 000 000 bit). However, for technical reasons, the capacities of computer memories and some storage units are often multiples of some large power of two, such as 2 28 = 268 435 456 bytes.
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 bits (2 mebibytes) 25,000,000 bits – amount of data in a typical color slide
"For disk and file capacities, the latter remedy is more popular because it is much easier to recognize that 300 GB is the same as 300,000 MB than to recognize that 279.4 GiB is the same as 286,102 MiB." "For memory capacities, binary prefixes are more natural.
Thus, a representation that compresses the storage size of a file from 10 MB to 2 MB yields a space saving of 1 - 2/10 = 0.8, often notated as a percentage, 80%. For signals of indefinite size, such as streaming audio and video, the compression ratio is defined in terms of uncompressed and compressed data rates instead of data sizes:
The ISQ symbols for the bit and byte are bit and B, respectively.In the context of data-rate units, one byte consists of 8 bits, and is synonymous with the unit octet.The abbreviation bps is often used to mean bit/s, so that when a 1 Mbps connection is advertised, it usually means that the maximum achievable bandwidth is 1 Mbit/s (one million bits per second), which is 0.125 MB/s (megabyte per ...