In telecommunications and computing, bit rate (sometimes written bitrate or as a variable R) is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time.
The bit rate is quantified using the bits per second (bit/s) unit, often in conjunction with an SI prefix such as kilo- (kbit/s), mega- (Mbit/s), giga- (Gbit/s) or tera- (Tbit/s). Note that, although the IEC 60027-2 standard defines a convention for computer data symbols in base two exponents for binary multiples, when describing a bit rate, the SI convention of base ten exponents for decimal multiples is traditionally used. A bit rate of 1 kbit/s is equivalent to 1,000 (103) bits per second, not 1,024 (210) bits per second. Uppercase K as in Kbit/s should also never be used.
The formal abbreviation for "bits per second" is "bit/s" (not "bits/s", see writing style for SI units). In less formal contexts the abbreviations "b/s" or "bps" are sometimes used, though this risks confusion with "bytes per second" ("B/s", "Bps"), and the use of the abbreviation ps is also inconsistent with the SI symbol for picosecond.
1 Byte/s (B/s) corresponds to 8 bit/s (bit/s).
Read more about Bit Rate: Prefixes, Progress Trends, Multimedia
Famous quotes containing the words bit and/or rate:
“The public, with its mob yearning to be instructed, edified and pulled by the nose, demands certainties; it must be told definitely and a bit raucously that this is true and that is false. But there are no certainties.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
“We honor motherhood with glowing sentimentality, but we don’t rate it high on the scale of creative occupations.”
—Leontine Young (20th century)