:''For other uses of the term, see [[Quad]].''
A '''quad''' is a measurement of data size on the [[science fiction]] show ''[[Star Trek]]'', including "kiloquads," "gigaquads," and "teraquads."
The exact size of these measurements has never been divulged in the show, but are presumed to be extremely large. A line from [[Data (Star Trek)|Data]] in the Italian dialogues in "[[The Measure of a Man (TNG episode)|The Measure of a Man]]" translates this unit as [[1000000000000000 (number)|quadrillions]] of [[Bit|Bits]].
Although it originated on the show ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' and in the [[Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual|technical manual]] by the same name, the term is more often used in the series ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]''. Several examples include:
* In "[[Lifesigns (Voyager episode)|Lifesigns]]", [[The Doctor (Star Trek)|The Doctor]] states that his program consists of more than 50 million gigaquads of memory.
* In "[[Twisted (Voyager episode)|Twisted]]", Lt. [[B'Elanna Torres]] states that 20 million gigaquads of new information has been input into the ship's computer.
* In "[[Threshold (Voyager episode)|Threshold]]", Lt. [[B'Elanna Torres]] states that 5 billion gigaquads of new information has been input into the ship's computer after downloading it from the shuttle that reached warp 10 with [[Tom Paris]].
* In "[[Someone to Watch Over Me (Voyager episode)|Someone to Watch Over Me]]", [[Seven of Nine]] collected 30,000 gigaquads of information on the subject of romance.
* In "[[Drone (Voyager episode)|Drone]]", the Borg drone "One" states that he has assimilated 47 billion teraquads of information.
Given the aforementioned, it is reasonable to assume that a "quad" is 10<sup>15</sup> units, but that being unspecified it may be like the term "[[Word (computer science)|word]]" in present-day computing wherein the exact size is determined by the machine architecture. If this is the case, a "quad" using a "word-size" of one bit would be more-or-less equal to a present-day "[[petabit]]" or 10<sup>15</sup> bits. However, ''[[The Star Trek Encyclopedia]]'' notes that the term "[kilo]quad" was specifically intended to have '''no''' direct real-world equivalent whatsoever so that subsequent advances in data capacity could never "catch up" with that of the ''Star Trek'' universe's imaginary technology and thus render the term [[anachronistic]].
Some have speculated that a "quad" could be a quaternary computer language, similar to the currently used binary computer code. Since binary digits are made up of values of either 0 or 1, quad digits could hypothetically be made up of 4 values. These would be basic units of [[information]] [[computer storage|storage]] and [[transmission (telecommunications)|communication]] in digital [[computing]] and digital [[information theory]].
==Other Uses==
The '''Quad''' is used as a unit of data size in the computer game [[Uplink (computer game)|Uplink]]. It is unknown whether it corresponds to the same value as the unit used in Star Trek.
==External links==
{{memoryalpha|Quad|Quad}}
[[Category:Star Trek terminology]]
[[it:Quad (Star Trek)]]
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