A bit cell is the length of tape, the area of disc surface, or the part of an integrated circuit in which a single bit is recorded. The smaller the bit cells are, the better the storage density of the medium is.
In magnetic storage, the magnetic flux or magnetization doesn't necessarily change at the boundaries of bit cells to indicate bit states. For example, the presence of a magnetic transition within a bit cell might record state 1, and the lack of such a transition might record state 0. Other encodings are also possible.
Famous quotes containing the words bit and/or cell:
“One has to completely humiliate oneself to be what the Beatles were, and that’s what I resent. I didn’t know, I didn’t foresee. It happened bit by bit, gradually, until this complete craziness is surrounding you, and you’re doing exactly what you don’t want to do with people you can’t stand—the people you hated when you were ten.”
—John Lennon (1940–1980)
“Women have no wilderness in them,
They are provident instead,
Content in the tight hot cell of their hearts
To eat dusty bread.”
—Louise Bogan (1897–1970)