KBits

[Ioannis Vranos]

I am confused on this matter.


1 KByte = 1024 bytes.

1 Kbit = 1000 or 1024 bits?


I have found contradictory references on the web.

 

[Rob Williscroft]

Ioannis Vranos wrote in in comp.lang.c++:

I am confused on this matter.


1 KByte = 1024 bytes.

1 Kbit = 1000 or 1024 bits?


I have found contradictory references on the web.

This doesn't have anything to do with C++, you should really try:


<OT>
AIUI only SI http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/prefixes.html define
what the k prefix means (x 1000), using uppercase K to mean x 1024
is just an ad hoc convention.
</OT>

Rob.

 

[Ivan Vecerina]

I am confused on this matter.

1 KByte = 1024 bytes.

1 Kbit = 1000 or 1024 bits?

Kbit is usually used for memory sizes. For obvious addressing
issues, these are nearly always sized to powers of 2.

(As everyone knows, this reasoning unfortunately does not apply
to hard disk sizes...)

I have found contradictory references on the web.

Read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilobyte to find out about
kbits, Kbits=Kibits, and GBytes vs GiBytes...


Cheers,
Ivan

 

[Ioannis Vranos]

This doesn't have anything to do with C++, you should really try:

Not really. Consider if I wanted to create some class that stores and
manipulates 1 Kbit of information, by using a collection of bitsets, for
example.

 

[Ioannis Vranos]

Kbit is usually used for memory sizes. For obvious addressing
issues, these are nearly always sized to powers of 2.

(As everyone knows, this reasoning unfortunately does not apply
to hard disk sizes...)

I think you meant "Kbyte" with the above. Yes, however OSes are still
reporting the real sizes.

The most lame of all is in the case of DVDs: For example empty one sided
DVDs are called DVD 4.7 GB and DVD-5 while their real capacity is ~4.38 GB!

Read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilobyte to find out about
kbits, Kbits=Kibits, and GBytes vs GiBytes...

Thanks. So Kbits usually are 1000 bits. I am talking about network
bandwidth, mainly.

 

[Rob Williscroft]

Ioannis Vranos wrote in in comp.lang.c++:

Not really. Consider if I wanted to create some class that stores and
manipulates 1 Kbit of information, by using a collection of bitsets, for
example.

Yep it has to do with programming, which is why I suggested:


Rob.

 

[Ivan Vecerina]

Thanks. So Kbits usually are 1000 bits. I am talking about network
bandwidth, mainly.

Actually, 1000 bits would be a kbit (lowercase),
while for 1024 bits, Kbit (uppercase K) is the suggested
alternative to 1 Kibit (1024 bits).
But that's theory.

For network/communication bandwidth, the decimal coefficients
are most likely used. (And the given bandwidth values
themselves are theoretical maxima anyway - all protocols
introduce overhead...)


Cheers,
Ivan