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Subject:Abbreviation for kilobits per second From:"Peter Ring, PRC" <prc -at- PIP -dot- DKNET -dot- DK> Date:Tue, 18 Jun 1996 09:14:49 +1
On 17 June =B496 Michael Andrew Uhl <uhl -at- VISLAB -dot- EPA -dot- GOV> asked:
> Would someone out there please tell me what the correct abbreviation
> is kilobits per second. I cannot find it in my dictionaries. I can
> only find bits per second (bps).
It depends on who you are writing for. Unless you are certain it's a
computer freak eally knowing his SUN writers guide, the risk of
confusion between bits and bytes is very high. An with 1 byte =3D 8
bits it's quite a difference. (Originally a "byte" was "1 word"
which then was 4 bits, but 8 bit is now the established standard.)
"K" or "k" will by most people be understood as "kilo", but the
correct ISO abbreviation is "k", no matter what some companies'
internal standards say.
To be sure, I will spell it out as kbit/s. In some contents the
abbreviation could be kBaud because 1 Baud is 1 bit/sec. To the
confusion of many readers, kBaud is sometimes seen abbreviated kB or
KB.
Conclusion: kbit/s or kBaud. Both are clear and can't be
misinterpreted.
Greetings from Denmark
Peter Ring
PRC - specialist in user friendly manuals and quality measurements on
manuals.
prc -at- pip -dot- dknet -dot- dk http://www.pip.dknet.dk/~pip323/index.htm
- homepage on user friendly instruction manuals with tips for
instruction manual writers.
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