Flash Memory for cameras, phones, all devices flash media.

Here we detail the different types of SD and flash memory types

There are a number of different Flash memory formats available. However SD cards with the smaller and adaptable version of microSDHC or microSD cards now typically dominate. With card physical size shrinking with space increasing and more phones including memory onboard or allowing for SD Cards to be used. SD and the older formats are made from solid a state component which means there are no moving parts. The type of memory or memory card you will use, will depend on which type of memory is supported by your desired device and the devices specification.

Most devices have at least one type supported and which type you choose then depends on the price and compatibility between devices. Playing back the videos or images is usually on the device but can be then read through normal readers or with an adapter on Laptops, TV, Phones.

Types of Media:

Secure Digital more commonly referred to as(SD) cards are a similar size to Multimedia Cards and use the technology introduced with regular SD cards but capable of a much faster transfer rate. SD
microSDHC Memory Cards are the current format and used in mobile phones, dash cams and are tiny! They still have plenty of capacity and can be used in devices lie Digital cameras and other devices where the larger original size is needed, for full compatability.

Secure Digital cards can be used with digital cameras, sat nav, mp3 players, dash cams, and easily viewed on a PC or deivce via a card reader. microSD are typically used on mobile phones, smaller or newer devices, but still used in others with an adapter.

Always for high rate devices such as cameras and dash cams choose a branded card and Ultra UHS standard to ensure it can perform and work, so many times dash cams and camera struggle using older cards or ones which are not faster or newer standards.

There are four standards for capacity of SD Cards:

	SD standard - Up to 2GB SD memory card using FAT 12 and 16 file systems
	SDHC standard - over 2GB-32GB SDHC memory card using FAT32 file system
	SDXC standard - over 32GB-2TB SDXC memory card using exFAT file system
	SDUC standard - over 2TB-128TB SDUC memory card using exFAT file system

		SD Standard	SDHC Standard	SDXC Standard	SDUC Standard
Capacity		up to 2GB	more than 2GB up to 32GB	more than 32GB up to 2TB	more than 2TB up to 128TB
File System		FAT 12, 16	FAT 32	exFAT	exFAT
SD Logo
Card Specifications	SD	32 x 24 x 2.1 mm, Approx 2g
	microSD	11 x 15 x 1.0 mm, Approx 0.5g
Speed Classes	NS mode	C2, C4, C6
	HS mode	C2, C4, C6, C10, V6, V10
	UHS-I mode	---	C2, C4, C6, C10 U1, U3 V6, V10, V30
	UHS-II mode	---	C4, C6, C10 U1, U3 V6, V10, V30, V60, V90
	UHS-III mode	---	C4, C6, C10 U1, U3 V6, V10, V30, V60, V90

xD Picture Cards as with other types of media can be used in serveral devices, it was developed jointly by Fuji film and Olympus . It was designed to meet the demands for more storage especially for users of digital photography.

Unsurprisingly as the two companies jointly developed the technology both brands include this method of storage extensively throughout their range.

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CompactFlash (CF) solid state disks with a 50-pin connector. (two rows of 25) The card is 1.6" long by 1.4" tall and 0.13" thick (4.06cm x 3.56cm x 33cm) in size. The flash memory which allows data to be stored even when power is removed from the card.

CompactFlash cards can be used in many devices to store photos, music and video clips. Devices include digital cameras, mp3 players, along with mobile phones and PDA's.

A Multimedia Card is a solid state disk card with a 7-pin connector. The cards contain no moving parts and are extremely rugged, providing much greater protection of data than conventional magnetic disk drives.

MultiMedia Cards are commonly used in portable devices such as digital cameras, digital music players, and test equipment.

MultiMedia Cards weigh just 2 grams and are about the size of a postage stamp - 3.2cm long, 2.4cm high, and .14cm thick (1.26" x .94" x .06").

SmartMedia Memory Cards were introduced in 1996 by Toshiba. They were originally called SSFDC, which stood for Solid State Floppy Disk card, as they resemble a miniature floppy disk. Smart Media cards usually incorporate a single Flash chip and do not incorporate a controller. They depend on the host controller (digital camera, etc) to manage all memory reads and writes.

SmartMedia memory is the lightest and thinnest Flash media with dimensions of 45mm x 37mm, 0.76mm.

Memory Stick media is manufactured by Sony, SanDisk and Lexar and is primarily used in digital cameras, mobile phones and PDA's.

Memory Stick Pro format was a newer version of Memory Stick which is designed for the latest digital cameras and has a high speed data transfer rate of 1.8mb per second.

The dimensions of Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro are: 21.5mm x 50mm x 2.8mm. Memory Stick Duo is a smaller version for compact devices with dimensions of just 20mm x 31mm x 1.6mm.

Microdrive is not a flash memory card like the various other formats. Microdrive is a small portable hard disk and drawback of this is there are moving parts within the unit which means it is not as durable as the solid state options.

Microdrives where produced by IBM and Hitachi and fit into a CompactFlash CF slot. They were released in 1999 and finally stopped by 2006. As it was a miniture hard drive at around an inch faster read/write was possible, until capacity and tech moved on and this format was phased out.

 

 

CompactFlash | Secure Digital | xD-Picture Cards
Multimedia Cards | Smart Media | Memory Stick | Microdrive