Flash Memory Memory for cameras and mobile phones flash media.

Here we detail the different types of flash memory

There are a number of different Flash memory formats available. They are made from solid a state component which means there are no moving parts. The type of memory 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.

Types of Media:

Secure Digital (SD) cards are a similar size to Multimedia Cards and use the technology introduced with regular SD cards but five times faster, with a maximum data transfer rate of 10MB per second.

Secure Digital cards can be used with enabled digital cameras and MP3 players alongside mobile phones and global positioning systems (GPS).

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.

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 is a new 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.

The benefits of it being a hard drive included larger capacity of storage and faster read/write access.

 

 

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