Mebibit

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Quantities of bits
SI prefix
(rare binary meaning)
Binary prefix standards
from IEC 60027-2
Name Symbol Quantity Name Symbol Quantity
kilobit kb 103 (210) kibibit Kibit 210
megabit Mb 106 (220) mebibit Mibit 220
gigabit Gb 109 (230) gibibit Gibit 230
terabit Tb 1012 (240) tebibit Tibit 240
petabit Pb 1015 (250) pebibit Pibit 250
exabit Eb 1018 (260) exbibit Eibit 260
zettabit Zb 1021 (270) zebibit Zibit 270
yottabit Yb 1024 (280) yobibit Yibit 280

A mebibit (a contraction of mega binary bit) is a unit of information or computer storage, abbreviated Mibit or sometimes Mib.

1 mebibit = 220 bits = 1,048,576 bits = 1024 kibibits

This unit is most useful for measuring RAM and ROM chip capacity.

The mebibit is closely related to the megabit, which equals to 106 bits = 1,000,000 bits, but sometimes used to denote the mebibit value in computer technology slang. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, video game manufacturers would sometimes boast the amount of internal cartridge RAM (in “megabits”) on their packaging, as a selling point. One “megabit” would equate to 128 KiB, whereas 8 “megabits” would equal one mebibyte of RAM in which the console's computer could perform the necessary instructions.

[edit] See also