Kibibit (Kibit)

ComputingCurrent unit

Exactly 1,024 bits.

1 kibibit = 128 bytes (exactly).

1 kibibit = 128 bytes

About the kibibit

Before 1999, a kilobit was often loosely taken to mean 1,024 bits as well as 1,000, and the IEC prefix kibi settled the matter. A kibibit (Kibit) is exactly 2^10 bits, which is 1,024 bits or 128 bytes. The IEC adopted the prefix in December 1998, and the BIPM's vocabulary of metrology notes that 1 kilobit should not be used to mean 1,024 bits.

The name starts with the first two letters of kilo and adds bi for binary, and the symbol writes the K as a capital to match the other binary prefixes. The difference from the decimal kilobit is 2.4 percent, the smallest of any pair.

The unit is a small one, equal to 128 bytes, and appears mainly where an exact binary bit count has to be stated without the ambiguity of kilobit.

Sources: Wikipedia: Binary prefix; NIST: Prefixes for binary multiples; Wikipedia: Bit

Kibibit conversion chart

1 kibibit expressed in every other digital storage unit:

Unit1 kibibit
Bytes128
Kilobytes0.128
Megabytes0.000128
Gigabytes1.28×10⁻⁷
Terabytes1.28×10⁻¹⁰
Bits1,024
Petabytes1.28×10⁻¹³
Kibibytes0.125
Mebibytes0.0001220703125
Gibibytes1.192092896×10⁻⁷
Tebibytes1.164153218×10⁻¹⁰
Kilobits1.024
Megabits0.001024
Gigabits0.000001024
Exabytes1.28×10⁻¹⁶
Zettabytes1.28×10⁻¹⁹
Yottabytes1.28×10⁻²²
Pebibytes1.136868377×10⁻¹³
Exbibytes1.110223025×10⁻¹⁶
Terabits1.024×10⁻⁹
Mebibits0.0009765625
Gibibits9.536743164×10⁻⁷
Nibbles256

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