3ds Max stores time internally in integer units called Ticks.
One second always contains 4800 ticks, thus one Tick is defined as a 1/4800 th of a second.
The importance of the number 4800 comes from the fact that it is divisible by all typical frame rates without a floating point part:
4800 ticks per second / 24 frames per second (Movies) = 200 ticks per frame
4800 ticks per second / 25 frames per second (PAL TV) = 192 ticks per frame
4800 ticks per second / 30 frames per second (NTSC TV) = 160 ticks per frame
The current number of Ticks per Frame can be acquired using the TicksPerFrame system global variable.