A megabit per second (mbps or mbit/s) is a unit of data transmission equal to 1,000 kilobits per second or 1,000,000 bits per second.
Most video applications are measured in mbit/s:
- 32 kbit/s – videophone quality (minimum necessary for a recognizable talking head)
- 2 Mbit/s – VHS quality
- 8 Mbit/s – DVD quality
- 55 Mbit/s – HDTV quality
Confusion
One megabit per second should not be confused with mibibit per second :
| 1,000,000 bit/s | = | 1 Mbit/s (one megabit or one million bits per second)
|
| 1,048,576 bit/s | = | 1 Mibit/s (one mibibit per second)
|
Related rates
Base 10:
- kilobit per second << megabit per second << gigabit per second
Base 2:
- kibibit per second << mibibit per second << gibibit per second
