Bitrate

In telecommunications and computing, bitrate (sometimes written bit rate, or as a variable Rbit) is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time. In digital multimedia, bitrate is the number of bits used per unit of time to represent a continuous medium such as audio or video. It is quantified using the bit per second (bit/s) unit or some derivative such as Mbit/s.

While often referred to as "speed", bitrate does not measure distance/time but quantity/time, and thus should be distinguished from the "propagation speed" (which depends on the transmission medium and has the usual physical meaning).