Minecraft wiki entry for Transmission, associated text: A unary encoding consists of multiple digital lines run in parallel, where a value is represented by the number of lines on (for example, the number 5 might be represented by having 5 of 16 lines powered). A unary encoding might use a convention that lines must be powered starting from one side (allowing values to be determined from the transition from powered lines to unpowered lines) or that they can be powered in any combination (requiring logic circuits or calculations to determine the represented value).