SD or MMC? Micro or Duo? When it comes to memory cards, it's easy to become confused seeing all of the different types and variations available. The following article will answer most of your questions you ever wanted to ask……………Rajendra
Digital camera memory is an essential and often overlooked piece of digital photography equipment .A memory card is a device offering an easy, fast and reliable way for storing and transfe
rring digital files. Memory cards are the storage medium of choice for almost all of our digital media - everything from photos, music, movies, game saves and much more are being kept on these tiny devices. So knowing what type of memory card is right for you (and your particular devices) is becoming vitally important.What is a memory card?
Memory cards are small devices (some no bigger than your thumbnail) that are used to store electronic data. Just like film is used to store photos and floppy disks are used to store information, memory cards can be used to store a wide variety of media. This can be anything (depending on the device) from photos, music, movies, games, documents, programs and more. And while cards come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are available for a variety of products, all memory cards do essentially the same thing -- store data.
Memory cards, also commonly known as flash memory cards, are essentially chips that allow users to write and rewrite data multiple times. Some of the key features of flash memory cards include their small size and the ability to retain data without a power supply. This allows them to fit into a variety of portable consumer devices.
Development of memory cards
Flash memory was invented by Dr. Fujio Masuoka while working for Toshiba circa 1980. According to Toshiba, the name "flash" was suggested by Dr. Masuoka's colleague, Mr. Shoji Ariizumi, because the erasure process of the memory contents reminded him of a flash of a camera. Dr. Masuoka presented the invention at the IEEE 1984 International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) held in San Francisco, California.
Intel saw the massive potential of the invention and introduced the first commercial NOR type flash chip in 1988.
The first memory card was introduced in 1990 by the name PCMCIA and latter on even called for PC Car
d and was mostly used by laptop computersThanks to the flash memory’s durability, reliability and low power consumption demand for memory cards grew rapidly. In 1994 the CompactFlash was introduced as a smaller alternative to the PCMCIA/PC Card, mostly to be used in digital cameras. In 1996 the SmartMedia Card was introduced as a competitive standard to CompactFlash also to be employed by digital cameras.The popularity of memory cards grow rapidly in the beginning of 2000, since usage of memory cards expanded to other consumer electronic products like camcorders, portable audio players, mobile phones etc. This created also the need for much smaller memory cards, therefore the first small form factor was the MultiMediaCard standard followed by the SD Memory Card and later on the Memory Stick. Since most portable devices were becoming smaller and the usage of memory cards in mobile phones were becoming more common some new smaller versions ware introduced. Those were the RS-MMC or MMCmobile, miniSD, and Memory Stick Duo.
What are the different types of memory cards available?There are six main types that you'll come across in the world of memory cards -- SD, MMC, Memory Stick, Compact Flash, xD Picture Card and SmartMedia.
Compact Flash Cards
CompactFlash is one of the most common types of digital camera memory. Most high-end digital cameras, and all digital SLRs are CompactFlash compatible.
There are two physical sizes of CompactFlash - Type I and Type II. Type II is thicker and some cameras will only accept Type I CompactFlash. Type II CompactFlash is usually higher capacity. The most common Type II CompactFlash cards are mechanical, MicroDrive, memory cards.
The main benefit of CompactFlash, besides availability, is that it has a controller chip in the card. The controller chip allows higher transfer rates. Most cameras can't take advantage of this extra speed, though. Only cameras with larger internal buffers - mostly digital SLRs - can take advantage of high-speed CompactFlash.
CompactFlash is inexpensive, easy to find, and works in a lot of digital cameras. For those reasons, it's one of the most desirable types of digital camera memory.
Smart Media Cards
Smart Media cards are typically 45mm x 37mm and weigh around 2 g. They are very thin
at only 0.76 mm. They used to be popular in digital photography but they have now been superseded by other media cards. When they were first manufactured, they were styled as the successor to floppy disks. They are compatible with most devices and there are adaptors that enable their use with devices with which they're not directly compatible. However, Smart Media cards have limited storage capacities .Secure Digital (SD) and Multimedia Cards (MMC)
Secure Digital cards and Multimedia cards look the same as both are around 32mm x 24mm. SD cards, however, are typically thicker and heavier at 2.1mm and 2g, respectively. However, there are now smaller and lighter SD cards popularly known as miniSD cards. SD cards also offer better security for they come with a data write protection switch. Multimedia cards do not have this security feature.
Memory Stick
Memory Sticks are so-named because they look like sticks of chewing gum. They come in a variety of sizes and were originally launched by Sony for use with the company's portable electronic devices and mobile phones. There is a Memory Stick Standard, the slimmer Memory Stick Duo, and the more advanced Memory Stick Pro. Commercially, Memory Sticks have a capacity of around 128 MB but Memory Sticks with 8-Gb capacity are already in the works. Their maximum storage capacity is pegged at 32 Gb.
xD Picture Cards
Introduced by Olympus and Fuji in 2002, the xD Picture card is the newest digital camera memory format. Its tiny size - 0.97" x 0.98" x 0.67" - means it can be used in very small cameras. The xD Picture Card can also be used in any CompactFlash compatible camera with the available CompactFlash adapter. It's currently available in many capacities.
Since it was developed and introduced by Olymous and Fuji, most current compact digital cameras from those manufacturers use the xD Picture Card media.
MicroDrive
The MicroDrive card is actually a miniature hard drive housed in a Type II CompactFlash chassis. The IBM MicroDrive was the first compact memory card to offer a full 1 Gigabyte storage capacity. MicroDrives have a reputation for being delicate and unreliable. They are more prone to failure since they have moving parts that can wear, or be damaged. But when handled normally and not abused, they are very reliable. Because of their moving parts, MicroDrives use more battery power than flash memory. And compared to new, high-speed CompactFlash cards, MicroDrive seek and write times are fairly slow.
Eye-Fi wireless memory card
Eye-Fi is a wireless memory card for digital cameras. Once you get it set up, you take a photo with your camera and it's automatically uploaded to your computer and to Flickr (or another photo sharing site of your choosing). The first thing you notice about the Eye-Fi is that it looks just like an ordinary 2-gig SD card...so tiny that when you use it for the first time, you almost can't help but examine your camera from all angles to make certain that there are no wires involved. It's magic. This card will make your ordinary digital camera into a wireless camera.
Can I use the same card on other devices?The simple answer is yes, but with some caveats.As long as your different devices take the same type of card, you should be able to freely use the same memory unit in those different devices. If, for example, your PDA, mobile phone and laptop all take SD cards, then you'll be able to use the same SD card to store data, take pictures or transfer information.
You may not be able to access or use your stored data from one device to another, however. Individual devices may use a specific file structure when recording information onto a memory card, or they may use specific file format types. If a device is unable to browse a memory card's directory or cannot read a specific type of file format, then it won't be able to display or utilise something stored using a different device. Songs stored as MP3 files on a card, for example, can't be played on a device that doesn't have MP3 support.
Speed of the card
The speed varies among different memory cards. While buying one for your electronic gadget or buying an electronic device that has them, the speed factor is very essential. The speed actually determines the rate of speed of capturing a picture and the speed of transferring it into the computer. Thus the speed of your device depends on the speed of the cards. The SQ flash memory card is one of the different cards that leave all the others behind in speed. A 1 GB SQ flash card would increase the reading speed to the 24 MB and the writing speed to 12 MB. It shows a wide gulf of difference in the speed of other Memory cards.
How safe is the data stored on memory cards?
Secure Digital cards and Multimedia cards look the same as both are around 32mm x 24mm. SD cards, however, are typically thicker and heavier at 2.1mm and 2g, respectively. However, there are now smaller and lighter SD cards popularly known as miniSD cards. SD cards also offer better security for they come with a data write protection switch. Multimedia cards do not have this security feature.
Memory Stick
Memory Sticks are so-named because they look like sticks of chewing gum. They come in a variety of sizes and were originally launched by Sony for use with the company's portable electronic devices and mobile phones. There is a Memory Stick Standard, the slimmer Memory Stick Duo, and the more advanced Memory Stick Pro. Commercially, Memory Sticks have a capacity of around 128 MB but Memory Sticks with 8-Gb capacity are already in the works. Their maximum storage capacity is pegged at 32 Gb.
xD Picture Cards
Introduced by Olympus and Fuji in 2002, the xD Picture card is the newest digital camera memory format. Its tiny size - 0.97" x 0.98" x 0.67" - means it can be used in very small cameras. The xD Picture Card can also be used in any CompactFlash compatible camera with the available CompactFlash adapter. It's currently available in many capacities.
Since it was developed and introduced by Olymous and Fuji, most current compact digital cameras from those manufacturers use the xD Picture Card media.
MicroDrive
The MicroDrive card is actually a miniature hard drive housed in a Type II CompactFlash chassis. The IBM MicroDrive was the first compact memory card to offer a full 1 Gigabyte storage capacity. MicroDrives have a reputation for being delicate and unreliable. They are more prone to failure since they have moving parts that can wear, or be damaged. But when handled normally and not abused, they are very reliable. Because of their moving parts, MicroDrives use more battery power than flash memory. And compared to new, high-speed CompactFlash cards, MicroDrive seek and write times are fairly slow.
Eye-Fi wireless memory card
Eye-Fi is a wireless memory card for digital cameras. Once you get it set up, you take a photo with your camera and it's automatically uploaded to your computer and to Flickr (or another photo sharing site of your choosing). The first thing you notice about the Eye-Fi is that it looks just like an ordinary 2-gig SD card...so tiny that when you use it for the first time, you almost can't help but examine your camera from all angles to make certain that there are no wires involved. It's magic. This card will make your ordinary digital camera into a wireless camera.
Can I use the same card on other devices?The simple answer is yes, but with some caveats.As long as your different devices take the same type of card, you should be able to freely use the same memory unit in those different devices. If, for example, your PDA, mobile phone and laptop all take SD cards, then you'll be able to use the same SD card to store data, take pictures or transfer information.
You may not be able to access or use your stored data from one device to another, however. Individual devices may use a specific file structure when recording information onto a memory card, or they may use specific file format types. If a device is unable to browse a memory card's directory or cannot read a specific type of file format, then it won't be able to display or utilise something stored using a different device. Songs stored as MP3 files on a card, for example, can't be played on a device that doesn't have MP3 support.
Speed of the card
The speed varies among different memory cards. While buying one for your electronic gadget or buying an electronic device that has them, the speed factor is very essential. The speed actually determines the rate of speed of capturing a picture and the speed of transferring it into the computer. Thus the speed of your device depends on the speed of the cards. The SQ flash memory card is one of the different cards that leave all the others behind in speed. A 1 GB SQ flash card would increase the reading speed to the 24 MB and the writing speed to 12 MB. It shows a wide gulf of difference in the speed of other Memory cards.
How safe is the data stored on memory cards?
When it comes to the safety of your data, memory cards have some key advantages over other storage devices such as hard disks or CDs/DVDs. Memory cards are much more shockproof than other storage mediums. Since there are no moving parts in a memory card, they're much less prone to the movement damage which can occur in a normal hard drive.
They're also much less fragile than a CD/DVD -- the case of a memory card can easily take a scratch or two, while scratches on the underside of a CD or DVD will most often result in data loss. Since memory cards are physically so small, perhaps the greatest risk of data loss lies with losing the entire card itself, rather than by some other accident.
How do I transfer data from my memory card to my PC?
They're also much less fragile than a CD/DVD -- the case of a memory card can easily take a scratch or two, while scratches on the underside of a CD or DVD will most often result in data loss. Since memory cards are physically so small, perhaps the greatest risk of data loss lies with losing the entire card itself, rather than by some other accident.
How do I transfer data from my memory card to my PC?
Most portable devices come with cables to link directly to a PC or laptop, allowing you to transfer any images or data stored on your memory card. If you don't have your device or cable with you, however, there are other alternatives.
Most new PCs and laptops are now being sold with built-in card readers. These allow you to slide your card directly into the computer, from which you can access any data stored on the card.
There are also stand alone card readers you can purchase. These card readers can usually read more than one type of card, which is handy if you've got several devices with different memory units.
Does the Quality of photographs have any relation to storage media?
No, memory card only store data they does not determine the quality.
Most new PCs and laptops are now being sold with built-in card readers. These allow you to slide your card directly into the computer, from which you can access any data stored on the card.
There are also stand alone card readers you can purchase. These card readers can usually read more than one type of card, which is handy if you've got several devices with different memory units.
Does the Quality of photographs have any relation to storage media?
No, memory card only store data they does not determine the quality.
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