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– equivalent to 1 "word" on 8-bit computers (Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, etc.). – the "word size" for 8-bit console systems including: Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment System. 10 1: decabit 10 bits – minimum bit length to store a single byte with error-correcting computer memory
2×10 3: UNIVAC I, first American commercially available electronic general-purpose stored program digital computer, 1951 [2] 3×10 3: PDP-1 commercial minicomputer, 1959 [2] 15×10 3: IBM Naval Ordnance Research Calculator, 1954; 24×10 3: AN/FSQ-7 Combat Direction Central, 1957 [2] 30×10 3: IBM 1130 commercial minicomputer, 1965 [2]
The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits.Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer [1] [2] and for this reason it is the smallest addressable unit of memory in many computer architectures.
Historical lowest retail price of computer memory and storage Electromechanical memory used in the IBM 602, an early punch multiplying calculator Detail of the back of a section of ENIAC, showing vacuum tubes Williams tube used as memory in the IAS computer c. 1951 8 GB microSDHC card on top of 8 bytes of magnetic-core memory (1 core is 1 bit.)
When b is 2, the unit is the shannon, equal to the information content of one "bit". A system with 8 possible states, for example, can store up to log 2 8 = 3 bits of information. Other units that have been named include: Base b = 3 the unit is called "trit", and is equal to log 2 3 (≈ 1.585) bits. [3] Base b = 10
General home computing and gaming utility emerged at 8-bit word sizes, as 2 8 =256 words, a natural unit of data, became possible. Early 8-bit CPUs (such as the Zilog Z80 and MOS Technology 6502, used in the 1977 PET, TRS-80, and Apple II) inaugurated the era of personal computing. Many 16-bit CPUs already existed in the mid-1970s.
An 8-bit register can store 2 8 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 8 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two most common representations, the range is 0 through 255 (2 8 − 1) for representation as an binary number, and −128 (−1 × 2 7) through 127 (2 7 − 1) for representation as two's complement.
The Intel 8080 used by these computers was an 8-bit processor, with 16-bit address space, which allowed it access up to 64 KB of memory; .COM executables used with CP/M have a maximum size of 64 KB due to this, as do those used by DOS operating systems for 16-bit microprocessors.