Data Storage Converter
Convert between MB, GB, TB, KB, and binary (KiB, MiB, GiB) units.
Data storage units affect decisions in cloud computing, hard drive purchasing, internet plan selection, and software development. The confusing overlap between decimal (SI) prefixes and binary prefixes has caused disputes over storage capacity — a phenomenon you've probably experienced when a '1 TB' hard drive shows up as only 931 GB in Windows.
Popular Data Storage Conversions
Decimal vs. Binary Prefixes: The Root of the Confusion
Hard drive manufacturers use decimal prefixes: 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes (10⁹ bytes). Operating systems traditionally use binary prefixes: 1 GiB (gibibyte) = 1,073,741,824 bytes (2³⁰ bytes). The difference is about 7.4%. For a "1 TB" drive: 1,000,000,000,000 bytes ÷ 1,073,741,824 = 931 GiB — which is why Windows reports ~931 GB. Macintosh OS X switched to decimal reporting in 2009, so a 1 TB drive shows as 1 TB on a Mac. The IEC introduced formal binary prefixes (KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB) in 1998 to eliminate this ambiguity, but adoption in consumer products has been slow.
Common Storage Sizes in Context
A 4K movie typically needs 50–80 GB of storage. A full Blu-ray disc holds up to 50 GB. An average smartphone photo taken in JPEG format is 2–5 MB; in RAW format it can be 20–40 MB. One minute of 1080p video at high quality is roughly 2–4 GB. A typical novel in plain text is about 1 MB — meaning a 1 TB drive could theoretically hold about one million novels. For RAM, 16 GB of DDR5 can hold several hundred browser tabs worth of active data simultaneously.
| Unit | Value |
|---|---|
| 1 KB (kilobyte) | 1,000 bytes (decimal) |
| 1 KiB (kibibyte) | 1,024 bytes (binary) |
| 1 MB | 1,000,000 bytes |
| 1 GB | 1,000,000,000 bytes |
| 1 TB | 1,000,000,000,000 bytes |
| 1 GiB | 1,073,741,824 bytes |
Internet Speed vs. Storage Size
Internet speeds are measured in megabits per second (Mbps) or gigabits per second (Gbps), while file sizes are measured in megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB). 1 byte = 8 bits, so a 100 Mbps internet connection can download at roughly 12.5 MB/s under ideal conditions. To download a 50 GB game on a 100 Mbps connection: 50 GB × 8 = 400 Gb ÷ 100 = 4,000 seconds ≈ 67 minutes. This bits-vs-bytes distinction is one of the most frequently misunderstood in consumer technology.
Further Reading
Sources & References
- NIST — Units and Conversion Factors — Official unit conversion factors from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
- BIPM — The International System of Units (SI) — International SI unit definitions from the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.