-SI integer: a whole number, possibly containing a suffix denoting the base unit
-of the value. Accepted suffixes are `k', 'M', 'G', 'T', and 'P', denoting
-kilo (1024), mega (1024^2), giga (1024^3), tera (1024^4), and peta (1024^5)
-respectively. If prefixed with '0x', the value is assumed to be base 16
-(hexadecimal). A suffix may include a trailing 'b', for instance 'kb' is
-identical to 'k'. You can specify a base 10 value by using 'KiB', 'MiB','GiB',
-etc. This is useful for disk drives where values are often given in base 10
-values. Specifying '30GiB' will get you 30*1000^3 bytes.
-When specifying times the default suffix meaning changes, still denoting the
-base unit of the value, but accepted suffixes are 'D' (days), 'H' (hours), 'M'
-(minutes), 'S' Seconds, 'ms' (or msec) milli seconds, 'us' (or 'usec') micro
-seconds. Time values without a unit specify seconds.
-The suffixes are not case sensitive.
+Integer. A whole number value, which may contain an integer prefix
+and an integer suffix.
+
+[integer prefix]number[integer suffix]
+
+The optional integer prefix specifies the number's base. The default
+is decimal. 0x specifies hexadecimal.
+
+The optional integer suffix specifies the number's units, and includes
+an optional unit prefix and an optional unit. For quantities
+of data, the default unit is bytes. For quantities of time,
+the default unit is seconds.
+
+With \fBkb_base=1000\fR, fio follows international standards for unit prefixes.
+To specify power-of-10 decimal values defined in the International
+System of Units (SI):
+.nf
+ki means kilo (K) or 1000
+mi means mega (M) or 1000**2
+gi means giga (G) or 1000**3
+ti means tera (T) or 1000**4
+pi means peta (P) or 1000**5
+.fi
+
+To specify power-of-2 binary values defined in IEC 80000-13:
+.nf
+k means kibi (Ki) or 1024
+m means mebi (Mi) or 1024**2
+g means gibi (Gi) or 1024**3
+t means tebi (Ti) or 1024**4
+p means pebi (Pi) or 1024**5
+.fi
+
+With \fBkb_base=1024\fR (the default), the unit prefixes are opposite from
+those specified in the SI and IEC 80000-13 standards to provide
+compatibility with old scripts. For example, 4k means 4096.
+
+.nf
+Examples with \fBkb_base=1000\fR:
+4 KiB: 4096, 4096b, 4096B, 4k, 4kb, 4kB, 4K, 4KB
+1 MiB: 1048576, 1m, 1024k
+1 MB: 1000000, 1mi, 1000ki
+1 TiB: 1073741824, 1t, 1024m, 1048576k
+1 TB: 1000000000, 1ti, 1000mi, 1000000ki
+.fi
+
+.nf
+Examples with \fBkb_base=1024\fR (default):
+4 KiB: 4096, 4096b, 4096B, 4k, 4kb, 4kB, 4K, 4KB
+1 MiB: 1048576, 1m, 1024k
+1 MB: 1000000, 1mi, 1000ki
+1 TiB: 1073741824, 1t, 1024m, 1048576k
+1 TB: 1000000000, 1ti, 1000mi, 1000000ki
+.fi
+
+For quantities of data, an optional unit of 'B' may be included
+(e.g., 'kb' is the same as 'k').
+
+The integer suffix is not case sensitive (e.g., m/mi mean mebi/mega,
+not milli). 'b' and 'B' both mean byte, not bit.
+
+To specify times (units are not case sensitive):
+.nf
+D means days
+H means hours
+M mean minutes
+s or sec means seconds (default)
+ms or msec means milliseconds
+us or usec means microseconds
+.fi
+