How Many Gigabytes Are in 1 Terabyte? [TB & GB Explained]
Whether you're a casual computer user or a tech-savvy professional, you've likely come across the terms gigabyte (GB) and terabyte (TB) when dealing with digital storage. But how much do you really know about these units of measurement? In this post, we'll explore what a gigabyte and a terabyte are and how they relate to each other. By the end of this article, you'll have a solid understanding of how many gigabytes are in a terabyte and why this matters in today's data-driven world.
Quick Answer:
In decimal notation, 1 Terabyte (TB) is equal to 1,000 Gigabytes (GB).
In binary notation, 1 Terabyte (TB) is equal to 1,024 Gigabytes (GB).
Table of Contents
- Part 1. What is Gigabyte or Terabyte?
- Part 2. How Many Gigabytes in a Terabyte?
- Part 3. How Much Data Can 1 TB Hold?
- Part 4. FAQs
Part 1. What is Gigabyte or Terabyte?
First thing first, you should know something about bits and bytes. The phrase byte refers to a unit of measurement that we use to describe storage capacity. In computing language, one byte is recorded as a combination of eight bits (1 byte=8 bits). And a bit is the minimum unit of information.
What is Gigabyte?
Gigabyte, better known as GB, is a unit of digital storage capacity that represents one billion bytes. we frequently come across this unit of measurement in daily life such as computer memory and storage, internet data usage, and smartphone storage capacity. The prefix "giga" denotes a value of 10^9, which means that one gigabyte is equivalent to 1 billion bytes.
1 GB = 1,024 MB = 1,048,576 KB = 1,073,741,824 B (Binary)
1 GB = 1,000 MB = 1,000,000 KB = 1,000,000,000 B (Decimal)
What is Teratybe?
A terabyte is another most frequently used and heard term. Of course, one terabyte is much larger than one gigabyte. In simple terms, one terabyte comprises more than one trillion bytes. To put it simply, one terabyte is made up of 1,099,511,627,776 bytes. In comparison, one terabyte (TB) is equal to 1,000 gigabytes (GB). In binary terms, it is comparable to 1,024 GBs. The following equation can help you better comprehend the term terabyte.
1 TB = 1,024 GB = 1,048,576 MB = 1,073,741,824 KB = 1,099,511,627,776 B (Binary)
1 TB = 1,000 GB = 1,000,000 MB = 1,000,000,000 KB = 1,000,000,000,000 B (Decimal)
Check where Gigabyte and Terabyte are in the comparative scale of bytes:
See also: How Much is a GB of Data?
See also: How Much Is a MB in KB?
Part 2. TB to GB Conversion: How Many Gigabytes in a Terabyte?
As mentioned, you may have found there are two answers for how many GBs go in a terabyte: 1 TB = 1,000 GB / 1,024 GB.
Exactly how much is a terabyte, it depends on you look at it from a binary (base 2) or metric (base 10, or decimal) term. A terabyte is one trillion bytes, namely 1,000 GB in decimal notation. A binary terabyte (also known as a tebibyte, or TiB) is equivalent to 1,099,511,627,776 bytes (1,024 GB).
To make the data unins of measurement clearer, here's how terabytes fit within the larger data measurement framework:
Unins of Measurement |
Decimal |
Binary |
Bit (b) |
1 |
1 |
Byte (B) |
8 b |
8 b |
Kilobyte (KB) |
1,000 B |
1,024 B |
Megabyte (MB) |
1,000 KB |
1,024 KB |
Gigabyte (GB) |
1,000 MB |
1,024 MB |
Terabyte (TB) |
1,000 GB |
1,024 GB |
Petabyte (PB) |
1,000 TB |
1,024 TB |
Exabyte (EB) |
1,000 PB |
1,024 PB |
Zettabyte (ZB) |
1,000 EB |
1,024 EB |
Yottabyte (YB) |
1,000 ZB |
1,024 ZB |
1998 Standard - Mebibyte vs Megabyte
In 1998, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) created new language and definitions of binary terms to refer to amounts of data - each of the new prefixes for byte (8 bits) and bit (0 or 1) included the letters bi. From then on, megabyte officially has referred to 1000 bytes and and mebibyte has referred to 1024 bytes.
However, there has been a push to use the mebibyte and other binary prefixes in recent years, such as kibibyte (KiB) and gibibyte (GiB), to avoid confusion and provide a more accurate representation of digital storage sizes.
What you may also interest: How Many Megabytes in a Gigabyte?
Part 3. How Much Data Can 1 TB Hold?
As you're choosing an external HDD, you'll always see the unit of measurement - TB. How much data can 1 TB hold? The average user stores a mix of photos, videos, and documents. When you're selecting a HDD or setting up a cloud storage plan, it's hard to estimate how many photos and videos 1 TB of data can hold, so let us break it down for you.
How Many Hours of Videos is 1 TB?
The number of hours of video that can be saved in a 1 TB (terabyte) storage unit is determined by a variety of criteria such as video quality, format, and compression. File Size = Bitrate × Duration x Compression Ratio
Here are some ballpark figures for popular video formats:
- 1 TB can store approximately 500 hours of standard definition (SD) video (480p resolution) at a bitrate of 3 Mbps.
- 1 TB can store approximately 200 hours of high definition (HD) video (720p resolution) at a bitrate of 8 Mbps.
- 1 TB can store approximately 100 hours of Full HD (1080p resolution) video at a bitrate of 16 Mbps.
- 1 TB can store approximately 25 hours of 4K Ultra HD (2160p resolution) video at a bitrate of 65 Mbps.
If you're not satisfied with the current hours for 1 TB capacity, you can compress the video, for example, downscale 4K to 1080p, lower the bitrate, or transcode your video codec to a higher compression efficiency one to extend time. Winxvideo AI is a top-notch video compression software that allows you to reduce video file by up to 90% without losing quality. By using it, you can convert camera native footage like MOD, TS, XAVC to MP4, H.264 to HEVC, downscale video resolution, lower bitrate, frame rate and more to make your video smaller.
How Many Photos Can 1 TB Hold?
Before getting too deep into how much photos can 1 TB hold, you have to be aware of that all the photos come into diffenert sizes. Take a photo taken with a 12MP camera as an example, about to 400 KB or so. 1 TB should hold around 2.5 million photos. Here's the math:
- If... 1 TB = 1,000 GB
- Then... 1,000 GB = 1,000,000 MB
- In other words... 1,000,000 MB = 1,000,000,000 KB
- Thus... 1,000,000,000 KB/400KB = 2,500,000 photos
How Many Movies Can 1 TB Hold?
Likewise, the movie size varies from one to another. The movie size presented below is based on real-world averages. Please keep in mind that the 1 Terabyte can carry more or less, depending on a variety of conditions.
- SD Movie from iTunes = 1.5 GB (Average Size) >> 1 TB = 666 SD Movies from iTunes
- 720p Movie from iTunes = 4 GB (Average Size) >> 1 TB = 250 720p Movies from iTunes
- 1080p Movie from iTunes = 5 GB (Average Size) >> 1 TB = 200 1080p Movies from iTunes
- DVD Rip (Pirated) = 700 MB (Average Size) >> 1 TB = 1428 DVD Rips
- Blu-Ray Rip 720p (Pirated) = 1 GB (Average Size) >> 1 TB = 1000 720p Blu-Ray Rips
- Blu-Ray Rip 1080p (Pirated) = 3.5 GB (Average Size) >> 1 TB = 286 1080p Blu-Ray Rips
Provided that you want to store more movies on your 1 TB capacity, it's advisable to convert DVD movies to digital formats. For example, by ripping DVD to MP4, you can store approximately 200 hours of HD movies in 1 TB. It also makes your DVDs playable on any devices without the bothering of DVD drive. Try WinX DVD Ripper to digitize your DVDs now >>
Of course, you can save more types of files with your 1 TB storage. For example, if you commonly store office files, PDFs and presentation, 1 TB should hold 6.5 million document pages. Besides, it's unpractical to store a single file type in 1 TB. All the values are for reference only.
Part 4. Frequently Asked Questions
1. How to Convert Terabytes to Gigabytes
To convert Terabytes to Gigabytes, multiply the Data Storage by the conversion ratio. One Terabytes is equal to 1,024 Gigabytes or 1,000 Gigabytes, so use this simple formula to convert:
Terabytes = Gigabytes × 1024
Terabytes = Gigabytes × 1000
For example, here's how to convert 5 Terabytes to Gigabytes using the formula above. 5 TB = (5 × 1024) = 5120 GB (Binary), or 5TB = (5 × 1000) = 5000 GB (Demcial).
2. 1 Gigabyte is equal to how many Terabyte?
1 Gigabyte is equal to 0.00098 Terabytes: 1 GB = 0.00098 TB
3. Is 1 TB enough for Netflix?
Yes. Most users will be fine with 1 TB of monthly data for Netflix. According to Netflix, you use about 1GB of data per hour for streaming a TV show or movie in standard definition and up to 3GB of data per hour when streaming HD video. Also
4. Is 1 terabyte enough for gaming?
The storage capacity of 1TB is regarded as the best storage for gaming PCs. You can see many gamers adapt the 1TB hard drive. That makes it the most popular hard drive size. It allows you to save many games.
5. Is 1TB a lot for WIFI?
For most people, 1 TB of data is enough for a month of internet use. That's the usual data cap for home internet providers, and it's a generous amount. It will cover activities like browsing, checking email, and watching a handful of YouTube videos or Netflix movies every day.