Comparison of memory cards

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This table provides summary of comparison of various flash memory cards, as of 2007.

Contents

[edit] Common information

Card family Standards organizations Varieties Entry date Picture[1] Major features
CompactFlash SanDisk I 1994 Thinner (3.3 mm), flash based only, sizes available up to 64 GB
II Thicker (5.0 mm), older flash based, but usually Microdrives, sizes available up to 8 GB
SmartMedia Toshiba 3.3V / 5V 1995 Very thin (0.76 mm), sizes available up to 128 MB
MultiMediaCard Siemens AG, SanDisk MMC 1997 Thin and small (24 mm x 32 mm x 1.4 mm), sizes available up to 4 GB
RS-MMC 2003 Compact size (24 mm × 18 mm × 1.4 mm), sizes available up to 2 GB
MMCmobile / MMCplus 2005 Compact size (24 mm × 18 mm × 1.4 mm), faster, optional DRM, sizes available up to 2 GB
MMCmicro 2005 Sub compact size (14 mm × 12 mm × 1.1 mm), optional DRM,
Memory Stick Sony/SanDisk Standard 1998 Thin and narrow (50 mm x 21.5 mm x 2.8 mm), optional DRM, available up to 128 MB
PRO 2003 Thin and narrow (50 mm x 21.5 mm x 2.8 mm), faster, optional DRM, Memory up to 4 GB
Duo 2003 Compact size (31 mm x 20 mm x 1.6 mm), optional DRM, Memory up to 128 MB
PRO Duo 2002-06 Compact size (31 mm x 20 mm x 1.6 mm), optional DRM, available up to 16 GB
PRO-HG Duo 2007-08 Compact size (31 mm x 20 mm x 1.6 mm), faster , optional DRM, available up to 4 GB
Micro (M2) 2006-02 Sub compact size (15 mm x 12.5 mm x 1.2 mm), optional DRM, available up to 8 GB
Secure Digital Panasonic, SanDisk, Toshiba SD 1999 Small (32 mm × 24 mm × 2.1 mm), DRM, sizes available up to 4 GB
miniSD 2003 Compact size (21.5 mm x 20 mm x 1.4 mm), DRM, available up to 2 GB
microSD 2005 Sub compact size (11 mm x 15 mm x 1 mm), DRM, available up to 4 GB
SDHC 2006 Physically the same as SD, but offers higher capacity and transfer speed, available up to 32 GB
miniSDHC 2007 Physically the same as miniSD, but offers higher capacity and transfer speed, available up to 8 GB
microSDHC 2007 Physically the same as microSD, but offers higher capacity and transfer speed, available up to 16 GB
xD Olympus, Fujifilm Standard 2002-07 Thin and small (20 mm × 25 mm × 1.78 mm), available up to 512 MB [1]
Type M 2005 Thin and small (20 mm × 25 mm × 1.78 mm) but slower read / write, available up to 2 GB [2]
Type H 2005 Thin and small (20 mm × 25 mm × 1.78 mm) and faster than previous two versions, available up to 2 GB [3]
USB flash drive Various USB 1.1 / 2.0 2001 Universally compatible across all computer platforms, but larger size suits them better to file transfer/storage instead of use in portable devices, available up to 64 GB

[edit] Physical details

Note that a memory card's dimensions are determined while holding the card with contact pins facing up. Horizontal measurement is width, vertical measurement is length, depth is thickness. For most cards length is larger than width, although this is not always the case. Also, most cards include a direction arrow to aid insertion; such an arrow should also be facing "up".

Card Width, mm Length, mm Thickness, mm Volume, mm³ Mass, g[2]
CompactFlash, Type I 43.0 36.0 3.3 5108 3.3
CompactFlash, Type II 43.0 36.0 5.0 7740
SmartMedia 37.0 45.0 0.76 1265 2.0
MMC, MMCplus 24.0 32.0 1.4 1075 1.3[3]
RS-MMC, MMCmobile 24.0 16.0 1.4 538 1.3
MMCmicro 14.0 12.0 1.1 185
Memory Stick Standard, PRO 21.5 50.0 2.8 3010 4.0
Memory Stick Duo, PRO Duo, PRO-HG 20.0 31.0 1.6 992 2.0
Memory Stick Micro "M2" 12.5 15.0 1.2 225 2.0
SD 24.0 32.0 2.1 1613 2.0
miniSD 20.0 21.5 1.4 602 1.0
microSD 15.0 11.0 1.0 165 0.27
xD 25.0 20.0 1.78 890 2.8
USB varies varies varies varies varies

[edit] Technical details

Card Varieties Actual Maximum storage capacity, MB (millions of bytes) Theoretical maximum capacity Max Read Speed, MBytes/s Max Write Speed, MBytes/s Read/write cycles Low-level access Operating voltage, V[4] Controller chip[5] # of pins
CompactFlash I 65536 137 GB 20[6] 20[6] NOR/NAND 3.3 and 5 Yes 50
II 12288 137 GB 20[6] 20[6]
SmartMedia 128 2 1,000,000 NAND 3.3 or 5 No 22
MMC MMC 8192 128 GB 20 20 1,000,000[7] 3.3 Yes 7
RS-MMC 2048 2[8] 2[8] 3.3 7
MMCmobile 2048 15[9] 8[9] 1.8 and 3.3 13
MMCplus 4096[10] 52[11] 52[11] 3.3 13
MMCmicro 2048 1.8 and 3.3 13
Memory Stick Standard 128 128 MB 2.5 1.8 3.3 Yes 10
Pro 4096 32 GB 20 20 3.3
PRO Duo 16000 [12] 20 20 3.3
PRO-HG Duo 32000 [13] 60 120[14] - 40[15] 3.3
Micro (M2) 8192[16] 32GB 20 20 1.8 and 3.3
Secure Digital SD 32768[17] 32 GB[18] 20 20 3.3 Yes 9
miniSD 4096[19] 12 12 11
microSD 12288[20] 10 10 8
xD 512 512 MB 5 3 3.3 No 18
Type M 2048 8 GB 4 2.5
Type H 2048 8 GB 15 9
USB "Full speed" 65536 (2007) No Limit 1 1 5 Yes
"High speed" 40 40

[edit] Consumer details

Card Write protection switch[21] DRM
CompactFlash No No
SmartMedia Partial, sticker Partial (optional)
MMC, RS-MMC No No
MMCMobile Yes, secureMMC
Memory Stick Standard, PRO Yes Optional, MagicGate
Memory Stick Duo, PRO Duo No Optional, MagicGate
Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo No Optional, MagicGate
Memory Stick Micro "M2" No Optional, MagicGate
SD Yes[22] Yes, CPRM
miniSD No
microSD No
xD Partial, sticker Partial [23]
USB Sometimes No

[edit] Compatibility

The following chart gives details on availability of adapters to put a given card (horizontal) in a given slot or device (vertical). This table does not take into account protocol issues in communicating with the device.

Following labels are used:

  • + (native) - a slot is native for such card.
  • D (Directly compatible) - a card may be used in such a slot directly, without any adapters. Best possible compatibility.
  • M (requires a Mechanical adapter) - such adapter is only a physical enclosure to fit one card sized into another; all electrical pins are exactly the same.
  • EM (requires an Electro-Mechanical adapter) - such adapter features both physical enclosure and pins re-routing as terminals are sufficiently different. No powered elements in such adapter exists, thus they're very cheap and easy to manufacture and may be supplied as a bonus for every such card.
  • E (requires an Electronic adapter enclosure) - these adapters are the most advanced ones with some chips (may be requiring external power) that transform signals, as well as physical enclosure and pin routing.
  • X (requires an eXternal adapter) - technically the same as E, but such adapter usually consists of 2 parts: a pseudo-card with pin routing and physical enclosure size that perfectly match the target slot and a break-out box (a card reader) that holds a real card. Such adapter is the least comfortable to use.
  • Empty cell - card can't be used in such slot, no single adapter is known to exist. Sometimes a chain of adapters can help (for example, miniSD→CF as miniSD→SD→CF)
Cards → CF SM MMC Memory Stick SD xD
↓ Slots I II MMC RS-MMC, MMCmobile Std Pro Pro Duo Micro SD mini micro Std M H
ExpressCard E[24] E[24] E[25] E[26] E[26] E[25] E[25] E[25] E[27] E[25] E[25] E[25]
PC card EM[28] EM[28] E[29] E[30] E[30] E[30] E[30]
CF I + E E[31] E[32] E[32] E[33] E[31] E[34] E[34] E[34]
CF II + + E E[31] E[32] E[32] E[31] E[34] E[34] E[34]
SM + X[35] X[35] X[35]
MMC + M D[36]
MS X[37] + + M M X[37] X[37] E[38]
SD D + EM EM
IDE PATA EM[39] EM[39] E[40][41]
Serial ATA E[42] E[42]
USB X[43] X[43] X[43] X[43] X[43] X[43] E[44] E[44] E[45] E[46] X[43] X[43] X[43]
Floppy E[47] E[48] E[48]
Nintendo DS Slot-1 E[49]
Nintendo DS Slot-2 E[50] E[50]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Pictures are given in relative scales; they're sized to be WYSIWYG when viewing using 81 PPI monitor.
  2. ^ Plexus Outbursts specifications
  3. ^ Apacer's MMC specifications
  4. ^ Voltage table at All Memory Cards, note that some cards support both voltages (and), and some cards are available in distinct versions (or)
  5. ^ Explanation of controller chip at All Memory Cards
  6. ^ a b c d CompactFlash Specification Rev. 4.1
  7. ^ ACP-EP Specifications
  8. ^ a b ACP-EP RS-MMC card features list
  9. ^ a b ACP-EP MMCmobile card features list
  10. ^ Transcend MMCplus 4GB
  11. ^ a b MMC transferred at up to 52MB/sec
  12. ^ Sony 16GB Memory Stick PRO Duo
  13. ^ Sony Memory Stick Pro-HG, up to 32 GB
  14. ^ 8-bit parallel transfer
  15. ^ [http://www.dpreview.com/news/0612/06121101memorystickprohg.asp 4-bit parallel transfer
  16. ^ Sandisk First to Offer 8-Gigabyte Memory Stick Micro (M2) Cards For Mobile Phones
  17. ^ Toshiba Adds New High Density SDHC Cards and microSDHC Card to Extensive Memory Card Line-up
  18. ^ SD Card Association Simplified Physical Layer Specification
  19. ^ New 4 GB miniSDHC card
  20. ^ SanDisk Announces the 12-Gigabyte microSDHC Card - the World’s Largest Capacity Card for Mobile Phones
  21. ^ Write protection switch at All Memory Cards
  22. ^ Some early SD cards may not have a write protection switch
  23. ^ Fujifilm accessories xD-Picture Card
  24. ^ a b DataFab EXP-CF
  25. ^ a b c d e f g DataFab EXP 12 in 2
  26. ^ a b DataFab exp 12 in 1
  27. ^ DataFab exp M2+microSD
  28. ^ a b Transcend CompactFlash-to-PC Card adapter
  29. ^ Transcend SmartMedia-to-PC Card adapter
  30. ^ a b c d Transcend 5-in-1 Adapter
  31. ^ a b c d Minolta SD-CF1 SD-to-CompactFlash adapter
  32. ^ a b c d Transcend MemoryStick-to-CompactFlash adapter
  33. ^ Sony MSAC-MCF1N and AD-MSCF1 PRO Duo to CF adapters
  34. ^ a b c d e f Olympus MACF-10 xD-to-CompactFlash adapter
  35. ^ a b c Hama xD-to-SM adapter
  36. ^ SD cards are usually thicker than MMC ones, and although it uses perfectly compatible pins, not every MMC slot may allow thick SD card to be inserted
  37. ^ a b c Dragon SD/miniSD/MMC to MS PRO Duo Adapter
  38. ^ KingMax microSD to MS PRO Duo Adapter
  39. ^ a b PC Engines IDE to CompactFlash adapters
  40. ^ Star Empery PT110 SD Card To ATA IDE 3.5 inch Hard Drive Adapter
  41. ^ 4x SD to SSD IDE Adapter
  42. ^ a b Accelerated Compact Flash: The Addonics SATA CF Adapter
  43. ^ a b c d e f g h i There are many USB-connected "n-in-1" memory card readers, for example Belkin's "Hi-Speed USB 2.0 15-in-1 Media Reader & Writer".
  44. ^ a b MS Duo and M2 adapters have appeared in the last 12 months which look like USB memory sticks
  45. ^ SanDisk @ CES - SD card with built-in USB adapter
  46. ^ A-Data microSD to USB Adapter
  47. ^ DCRP Special Report: FlashPath Adapter by Tom Beardmore
  48. ^ a b JVC CU-VFSD50U SD/MMC FLOPPY ADAPTER
  49. ^ R4 microSD to NDS Slot-1 Adapter
  50. ^ a b Supercard SD/miniSD to NDS Slot-2 Adapter

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Memory cards
CompactFlash (CF) • JEIDA • Memory Stick (MS/MS-PRO) • miCard • Microdrive (MD) • MultiMediaCard (MMC) • PC Card • Secure Digital (SD) • SmartMedia (SM) • SxS • Universal Flash Storage (UFS) • USB • xD-Picture
Comparison of memory cards • SD Card/MultiMediaCard Family Comparison
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