Memory card 212855 223998657 2008-07-06T21:50:11Z Ramu50 6595108 /* See also */ {{refimprove|date=April 2008}} [[Image:Flash-Media-Cards.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Four major types of memory cards (from left to right: [[CompactFlash]], [[Memory Stick]], [[Secure Digital]], and [[XD Picture Card|xD]].]] A '''memory card''' or '''flash memory card''' is a solid-state electronic [[flash memory]] [[data storage device]] used with [[digital camera]]s, [[Personal Digital Assistant|handheld]] and [[Mobile]] computers, [[telephone]]s, [[music]] players, [[video game console]]s, and other [[electronics]]. They offer high re-record-ability, power-free storage, small [[form factor]], and rugged environmental specifications. There are also non-solid-state memory cards that do not use flash memory, and there are different types of flash memory. There are many different types of memory cards and jobs they are used for. Some common places include in digital cameras, in game consoles, in cell phones, and in industrial applications. [[PC card]] (PCMCIA) were among first commercial memory card formats (type I cards) to come out in the 1990s, but are now only mainly used in industrial applications and for I/O jobs (using types I/II/III), as a connection standard for devices (such as a modem). Also in 1990s, a number of memory card formats smaller than PC Card came out, including CompactFlash, [[SmartMedia]], and Miniature Card. In other areas, tiny embedded memory cards (SID) were used in cell phones, game consoles started using proprietary memory card formats, and devices like [[Personal digital assistant|PDAs]] and digital music players started using removable memory cards. From the late 1990s into the early 2000s a host of new formats appeared, including SD/MMC, Memory Stick, xD-Picture Card, and a number of variants and smaller cards. The desire for ultra-small cards for cell-phones, PDAs, and compact digital cameras drove a trend toward smaller cards that left the previous generation of "compact" cards looking big. In digital cameras SmartMedia and CompactFlash had been very successful, in 2001 SM alone captured 50% of the digital camera market and CF had a strangle hold on professional digital cameras. By 2005 however, SD/MMC had nearly taken over SmartMedia's spot, though not to the same level and with stiff competition coming from Memory Stick variants, xD, as well as CompactFlash. In industrial fields, even the venerable PC card (PCMCIA) memory cards still manage to maintain a niche, while in cell-phones and PDAs, the memory card market is highly fragmented. Nowadays, most new PCs have built-in slots for a variety of memory cards; Memory Stick, CompactFlash, SD, etc. Some digital gadgets support more than one memory card to ensure compatibility. == Data table of selected memory card formats == {| class="wikitable" |- ! Name ||Acronym || Form factor||[[Digital rights management|DRM]] |- |[[PC Card]]||align="center"|PCMCIA||85.6 × 54 × 3.3 mm||None |- |[[CompactFlash|CompactFlash I]]||align="center"|CF-I||43 × 36 × 3.3 mm||None |- |[[CompactFlash|CompactFlash II]]||align="center"|CF-II||43 × 36 × 5.5 mm||None |- |[[SmartMedia]]||align="center"|SM / SMC||45 × 37 × 0.76 mm||None |- |[[Memory Stick]]||align="center"|MS||50.0 × 21.5 × 2.8 mm||[[MagicGate]] |- |[[Memory Stick|Memory Stick Duo]]||align="center"|MSD||31.0 × 20.0 × 1.6 mm||[[MagicGate]] |- |[[Memory Stick|Memory Stick PRO Duo]]||align="center"|MSPD||31.0 × 20.0 × 1.6 mm||[[MagicGate]] |- |[[Memory Stick|Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo]]||align="center"|MSPDX||31.0 × 20.0 × 1.6 mm||[[MagicGate]] |- |[[Memory Stick|Memory Stick Micro M2]]||align="center"|M2||15.0 × 12.5 × 1.2 mm||[[MagicGate]] |- |[[Multimedia Card]]||align="center"|MMC||32 × 24 × 1.5 mm||None |- |[[Multimedia Card|Reduced Size Multimedia Card]]||align="center"|RS-MMC||16 × 24 × 1.5 mm||None |- |[[Multimedia Card|MMCmicro Card]]||align="center"|MMCmicro||12 × 14 × 1.1 mm||None |- |[[Secure Digital card]]||align="center"|SD||32 × 24 × 2.1 mm||[[Content Protection for Recordable Media|CPRM]] |- |[[SxS]]||align="center"|SxS|||| |- |[[Universal Flash Storage]]||align="center"|UFS|||| |- |[[miniSD]] card||align="center"|miniSD||21.5 × 20 × 1.4 mm||[[Content Protection for Recordable Media|CPRM]] |- |[[microSD]] card||align="center"|microSD||11 × 15 × 0.7 mm||[[Content Protection for Recordable Media|CPRM]] |- |[[xD-Picture Card]]||align="center"|xD||20 × 25 × 1.7 mm||None |- |[[Intelligent Stick]]||align="center"|iStick||24 x 18 x 2.8 mm||None |- |[[Serial Flash Module]]||align="center"|SFM||45 x 15 mm||None |- |[[µ card]]||align="center"|µcard||32 x 24 x 1 mm||Unknown |- |[[NT Card]]||align="center"|NT NT+||44 x 24 x 2.5 mm||None |} Since many [[EEPROM]] devices only allow a finite number of write cycles, some of these cards incorporate [[wear levelling]] algorithms to spread the wear and to avoid wearing out specific places which are often written to. ==Overview of all memory card types== {{main|Comparison of memory cards}} [[Image:Memory cards shrinking down.jpg|thumb|right|[[Miniaturization]] is evident in memory card creation; over time, the physical sizes of the memory cards grow smaller while their respective logical sizes grow larger. The memory cards listed from left to right are: Compact flash (32 MB), SD (128 MB), miniSD (1.0 GB), and microSD (2.0 GB).]] * PCMCIA ATA Type I Flash Memory Card (PC Card ATA Type I) (max 8 GB (8 [[gibibyte|GiB]]) flash as of 2005) ** PCMCIA Linear Flash Cards, SRAM cards, etc. ** PCMCIA Type II, Type III cards * CompactFlash Card (Type I), CompactFlash High-Speed (max 32 GB as of 2008) * CompactFlash Type II, CF+(CF2.0), CF3.0 ** Microdrive (max 6 GB as of 2005) * MiniCard ([[Miniature Card]]) (max 64 MB (64 [[mebibyte|MiB]])) * SmartMedia Card (SSFDC) (max 128 MB) (3.3 V,5 V) * xD-Picture Card, xD-Picture Card Type M * Memory Stick, MagicGate Memory Stick (max 128 MB); Memory Stick Select, MagicGate Memory Stick Select ("Select" means: 2x128 MB with A/B switch) * SecureMMC * Secure Digital (SD Card), Secure Digital High-Speed, Secure Digital Plus/Xtra/etc (SD with USB connector) ** miniSD Card ** microSD Card (aka Transflash, T-Flash) ** SDHC * MU-Flash (Mu-Card) (Mu-Card Alliance of OMIA) * C-Flash * [[Subscriber Identity Module|SIM]] card (Subscriber Identity Module) * [[Smart card]] (ISO 7810 Card Standard , ISO 7816 Card Standard, etc.) * UFC ([[USB FlashCard]]) [http://www.lexar.com/ufc/] (uses [[Universal Serial Bus|USB]]) * FISH Universal Transportable Memory Card Standard (uses USB) * Disk memory cards: ** [[Clik!]] (PocketZip), (40 MB PocketZip) ** [[Floppy disk]] ([[LS120]], 2-[[inch]], 3.5-inch, etc.) * Intelligent Stick (iStick, a USB-based flash memory card with MMS) * SxS (S-by-S) memory card, a new memory card specification developed by [[Sandisk]] and [[Sony]]. SxS complies to the [[ExpressCard]] industry standard. [http://www.dpreview.com/news/0704/07041601sxsmemorycardformat.asp] * Nexflash [http://www.winbond-usa.com/en/component/option,com_staticxt/Itemid,553/xt_item,1/staticfile,Nexflash~press_011000.htm Winbond] Serial Flash Moduel (SFM) cards, size range 1 [[millibit?|mb]], 2 mb and 4 mb. == Memory cards in video game consoles == Many [[video game console]]s have used [[proprietary]] [[solid-state drive|solid-state]] memory cards to store data. In recent years read-only [[optical disc]]s have replaces these memory cards in most current home console systems. However most portable gaming systems still rely on custom memory cartridges, due to their low power consumption, smaller physical size and reduced mechanical complexity. The sizes in parenthesis are those of the official, first-party memory cards. * [[Microsoft]] Xbox line: ** [[Xbox]] [[Microsoft Xbox#Controllers and removable storage|Memory Unit]] (8 MB) ** [[Xbox 360]] [[Xbox 360 accessories#Memory Units|Memory Unit]] (64 MB, 256 MB, and 512 MB versions) * [[Nintendo]] line: ** [[Nintendo 64]] [[Controller Pak]] (256 KB, divided in 123 ''pages'') ** [[Nintendo GameCube]] [[Nintendo GameCube#First-party.2FOfficially licensed|Memory Card]] [59- (4 Mb/512 KB), 251- (16 Mb/2 MB) and 1019-block (64 Mb/8 MB) versions] ** [[Wii]] Nintendo GameCube Memory Card compatible (see above) and [[Secure Digital]] card compatible * [[Sega Dreamcast]] [[VMU|Visual Memory Unit (VMU)]] (128 KB divided in 200 blocks) * [[Sega Saturn]] memory unit can hold 20 blocks of save games. * [[PlayStation|Sony PlayStation]] line: ** [[PlayStation#Memory|PlayStation Memory Card]] (1 Mb/128 KB divided in 15 ''blocks'') ** The [[PocketStation]] can act as PlayStation Memory Card ** [[PlayStation 2]] Memory Card (called the "Memory Card (PS2)" onscreen) (8MB) ** The [[PlayStation Portable]] uses [[Memory Stick PRO Duo]]. ** The [[PlayStation 3]] is compatible with CompactFlash, Secure Digital, and Memory Stick PRO Duo. * [[GP2X]] GNU/Linux based portable games console, uses SD/MMC. * [[Neo-Geo AES]], released in 1990 by [[SNK]], was the first video game console able to use a memory card. AES memory cards are also compatible with Neo-Geo MVS arcade cabinets == See also == * [[Comparison of memory cards]] * [[USB flash drive]] * [[List of digital camera brands]] * [[Solid state drive]] * Hot Docking (see [[Hot swapping]] or [[Hot plugging]]) == External links == {{Commons|Memory card}} * [http://www.memorex.com/downloads/whitepapers/WhitePaper_Reference_Guide_Flash_Mar06.pdf Details about Flash Memory and Memory Cards] * [http://www.hjreggel.net/cardspeed/ CARDSPEED - Card Readers and Memory Cards (speed test measurements)] * [http://www.lowpricememory.co.uk/memory-card-information.html Memory Card Guide] {{Memory Cards}} [[Category:Computer storage media]] [[Category:Solid-state computer storage media|*Memory card]] [[Category:Video game hardware]] [[ar:بطاقة ذاكرة]] [[bg:Флаш-карта]] [[ca:Targeta de memòria]] [[cs:Paměťová karta]] [[da:Hukommelseskort]] [[de:Speicherkarte]] [[es:Tarjeta de memoria]] [[fr:Carte mémoire]] [[ko:메모리 카드]] [[id:Kartu memori]] [[it:Scheda di memoria]] [[he:כרטיס זיכרון]] [[lt:Atminties kortelė]] [[ms:Kad ingatan]] [[nl:Geheugenkaart]] [[ja:メモリーカード]] [[no:Minnekort]] [[pl:Karta pamięci]] [[pt:Cartão de memória]] [[simple:Memory card]] [[sk:Pamäťová karta]] [[sl:Pomnilniška kartica]] [[sr:Меморијске картице]] [[fi:Muistikortti]] [[sv:Minneskort]] [[vi:Thẻ nhớ]] [[zh:記憶卡]]