bit rate
<communications, digital signal processing> (Or "bitrate") A data rate
expressed in bits per second. This is a similar to baud but the latter is more
applicable to channels with more than two states.
The common units of bit rate are kilobits per second (Kbps) and megabits per
second (Mbps). In data rates, the multipliers "k", "M", etc. stand for powers of
1000 not powers of 1024.
The term is also commonly used when discussing digital sampling and sample
rates. For example, the MP3 audio compaction algorithm is often set to ouput
files with a bitrate of 120 kbps. This means that the file contains an average
of 120 kilobits for each second of audio (900 KB per minute). This compares with
CD audio which is encoded at 44100 16-bit stereo samples per second or 1408
kbps.
(2003-05-19)
Nearby terms:
bit-paired keyboard « bit pattern « bit plane «
bit rate
» bit-robbing » bit rot » bit slice
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