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File Size Explanations

The following may help to explain why some data storage tapes, hard drives, CDs, DVDs, etc. don't hold as much as they claim to.

The larger the amount of data, the more the measurement goes out by. For example, a 4 gigabyte DAT storage tape doesn't really hold 4 gigabytes, it holds 4,000,000,000 bytes which is only 93.13225% of it's rated capacity, or 3.725 gigabytes. An 8.5 GB dual layered DVD really only holds 7.91 GB. A 4.7 GB single layered DVD really only holds 4.37 GB. Too bad that marketers are so eager to round up binary numbers to their advantage, because it makes calculations of how much data you can fit on it very difficult.

Note below that when abbreviating binary numbers you should use upper case (i.e. K, M, G & T), but when stating rounded divisions of 1000, lower case should be used (i.e. k, m, g & t). Also note that when abbreviating BYTES, always use upper case B, because lower case b means BITS (there are 8 bits in 1 byte).

1,024 bytes
=
1 kilobyte (KB), or 1,000 bytes (kB)
is really 97.65625% of a kilobyte.
1,048,576 bytes
=
1 megabyte (MB), or 1,000,000 bytes (mB)
is really 95.36743% of a megabyte.
1,073,741,824 bytes
=
1 gigabyte (GB), or 1,000,000,000 bytes (gB)
is really 93.13225% of a gigabyte.
1,099,511,627,776 bytes
=
1 terabyte (TB), or 1,000,000,000,000 bytes (tB)
is really 90. 94947% of a terabyte.
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