8-bit
What does 8-bit mean?
Definition
8-bit refers to a numbering system that uses 8 binary digits (bits) to represent numbers and other data. Each binary digit can have two values: 0 or 1. In an 8-bit system, there are 2^8, or 256, possible combinations of 0s and 1s, and each combination can represent a different number, character, or other unit of data. The 8-bit system is widely used in computing, especially in the representation of characters in text and in the storage of images and other data. In character encoding, 8-bits can represent up to 256 different characters, including letters, numbers, and symbols, and is used in many widely-used character encoding standards, such as ISO 8859 and UTF-8.