Bit rate:

• The term bit rate is a synonym for data transfer rate or simply data rate.

• Bit rate, as the name implies, describes the rate at which bits are transferred from one location to another. In other words, it measures how much data is transmitted in a given amount of time.

• Bit rate is commonly measured in bits per second (bps), kilobits per second (Kbps), or megabits per second (Mbps).

• Bit rate can also describe the quality of an audio or video file.

• For example, an MP3 audio file that is compressed at 192 Kbps will have a greater dynamic range and may sound slightly more clear than the same audio file compressed at 128 Kbps. This is because more bits are used to represent the audio data for each second of playback.

• Similarly, a video file that is compressed at 3000 Kbps will look better than the same file compressed at 1000 Kbps.

• Just like the quality of an image is measured in resolution, the quality of an audio or video file is measured by the bit rate.

Baud rate

• Baud means "state changes of the line per second".

• The baud rate of a data communications system is the number of symbols per second transferred.

• Baud rate is a technical term associated with modems, digital televisions, and other technical devices. It is also known as symbol rate and modulation rate. The term roughly means the speed that data is transmitted, and it is a derived value based on the number of symbols transmitted per second.

• The units for this rate are either symbols per second or pulses per second. Baud can be determined by using the following formula: Baud = (Gross Bit Rate / Number of Bits per Symbol). This can be used to translate baud into a bit rate using the following formula: Bit Rate = (Bits per Symbol × Symbol Rate).

• The significance of these formulas is that higher baud rates equate to greater amounts of data transmission, as long as the bits per symbol are the same. A system using 4800 baud modems that has 4 bits per symbol will send less data than a system using 9600 baud modems that also has 4 bits per symbol. So, all other things being equal, a higher rate is generally preferred.