8-bit

adj, noun — 4 senses

8-bit

adj

/ˌeɪtˈbɪt/

1

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences Of a word size or an integer, represented using units of 8 bits (1 byte).

  • I started creating 8-bit music around 2002 when I picked up nanoloop[…]2007, Nick Collins, Julio d'Escriván, The Cambridge companion to electronic music, page 189:
2

Computer graphics, Computing, Engineering, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Mathematics, Music, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences Originating from or resembling the art or music of the 8-bit computer era.

  • Typically far more complex than the songs of the 8-bit games, songs in Amiga games had a highly varied structure, but usually followed the same basic principles seen in the 8-bit games (shorter loops with fewer distinct sections for battle music, and longer loops with more distinct sections for in-game music).2008 January 1, Karen Collins, Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design, MIT Press, →ISBN:
  • Much of La-Mulana's 8-bit aesthetic is tied to its self-imposed graphical limitations. To start, the native resolution of 256 × 192 pixels is (as we would expect) much less than that of contemporary standards[…]2008 November 12, Brett Camper, “Retro Reflexivity: La-Mulana”, in Bernard Perron, Mark J.P. Wolf, editors, The Video Game Theory Reader 2, Routledge, →ISBN:
3

Computer graphics, Computing, Engineering, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Mathematics, Music, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences Broadly, Proscribed Originating from or resembling the art or music of the 8-bit computer era and subsequent eras.

8-bit

noun
1

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A computer that processes data in groups of 8 bits (binary digits).

  • The BBC Micro and ZX Spectrum are well-known British 8-bits.
Related terms
7-bit

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.