A unit of measurement for oscillation frequency equal to one million (1,000,000) hertz (1 hertz = one cycle per second). Frequencies of various physical characteristics are measured in Megahertz (for example – processor clock frequency, carrier frequency of a radio signal, reference frequency of a high-frequency (HF) signal generator). Megahertz is often used to indicate the bandwidth for digital, analog, and video signals.
A radio signal with a frequency of 1 MHz lies approximately in the middle of the range of the standard medium-wave broadcast band and has a wavelength of 300 meters. An electromagnetic signal with a frequency of 100 MHz lies in the middle of the standard VHF frequency modulation broadcast band (FM – Frequency Modulation) and has a wavelength of 3 meters.
The bandwidth of a digital signal, expressed in megahertz, is related to the data transfer rate in bits per second. In general, the higher the data rate, the wider the signal bandwidth. A high-speed or optical cable operating at
The unit of frequency – the hertz – is named in honor of the 19th-century German physicist Heinrich Hertz.