Computer Science : S1 : L10 : Data Storage and Compression

Bit

A unit of information that represents the most basic form of data, with a value of either 0 or 1.

Nibble

A group of 4 bits, representing a single hexadecimal digit.

Byte

A group of 8 bits, representing a single character or data value.

Kibibyte (KiB)

A unit of digital information equal to 2^10 (1024) bytes.

Mebibyte (MiB)

A unit of digital information equal to 2^20 (1048576) bytes.

Gibibyte (GiB)

A unit of digital information equal to 2^30 (1073741824) bytes.

Tebibyte (TiB)

A unit of digital information equal to 2^40 (1099511627776) bytes.

Pebibyte (PiB)

A unit of digital information equal to 2^50 (1125899906842624) bytes.

Exbibyte (EiB)

A unit of digital information equal to 2^60 (1152921504606846976) bytes.

Image size

The total number of pixels in an image.

Colour depth

The number of bits used to represent the color of each pixel in an image.

Storage capacity

The amount of data that can be stored in a storage device.

Memory stick size

The capacity of a memory stick, usually measured in bytes.

Sound file

A file that contains audio data.

Sample size

The size of a sample in a sound file, calculated by multiplying the sample rate, sample resolution, and length of the sample.

Data compression

The process of reducing the size of data to save storage space and improve transmission efficiency.

Lossy file compression

A compression method that eliminates unnecessary data, resulting in a smaller file size, but the original file cannot be fully reconstructed.

Lossless file compression

A compression method that reduces file size without losing any data, allowing the original file to be fully reconstructed.

Bandwidth

The maximum capacity of data that can be transferred across a certain path.

Run-Length Encoding

A lossless compression method that replaces repetitive data with a single data value, useful for reducing redundancy in black and white images.