What device on digital cameras are the size of postage stamps come in different speed and capacity levels and are capable of storing a great deal of data?

Let's try to find out what class of memory card you should equip your smartphone, tablet, laptop, camcorder or camera with when such a need arises, and what class of memory card is best for each of these devices?

To do this, let us consider in detail what classification of memory cards currently exists, and how one miniature storage device differs from another.

Before you know what the class of a storage device means, you should clarify the concept of the speed of information carriers. There are two different values ​​for this parameter, the first is the read or transfer rate, and the second is the write rate. The read speed is almost always faster than the write speed, while it is not directly related to the class of equipment: it may even turn out that a flash drive with the designation “class 4” will be read faster than a class 10 flash drive.

Of the two numbers that describe the characteristics of the media, this will be the larger number: the higher the reading speed, the easier and faster you can transfer information to an external device. Recording speed is important for hardware performance, and it is this speed that allows you to record high-definition video. You can find out if the manufacturer offers a good high-speed recording mode by looking at the back of the package.

Since some unscrupulous manufacturers indicate overestimated characteristics on their products, it is better to purchase memory cards from well-known brands, but, in any case, it is always possible to check the speed data yourself. It is easy to check the speed with the help of special programs, for example, USB-Flash-Banchmark and Check Flash, which can be downloaded for free, or with the H2testw utility.

Existing card types

A modern digital storage medium comes in different sizes: mini, micro and full-size version, while the smallest dimensions are designed for a smartphone, tablet or mobile phone, and those that are larger are used in camcorders and cameras.

For a long time CompactFlash, or CF cards, sized 43 x 36 x 3.3 mm were the main media, and although the age of these formats has already passed, nevertheless, they are still used in some DVRs today.

The most common type of digital storage equipment today is the SD Card (Secure Digital Memory Card) or SD card.

This device, which does not exceed the size of a postage stamp, with dimensions of 32 x 24 x 2.1 mm, has surpassed CF cards in all parameters, and almost all modern technology is compatible with it. Devices with higher capacity began to be abbreviated as SDHC, and ultra-high capacity as SDXC.

A micro SD or micro sd card is simply a miniature version of an SD card, measuring 11 x 15 x 1 mm, which is inserted into devices with limited space, such as phones. However, if necessary, it can even be installed in a laptop if you use a special adapter that exists for this. There is also a mini SD with dimensions of 21.5 x 20 x 1.4 mm, since some types of equipment are equipped with just such slots.

Classes of SD memory cards

Let's say that we already know what size the storage device should be, how much memory we need for optimal operation. It remains only to find out what the class of a memory card is, what this SD card parameter affects in order to select the required one. It is from this characteristic that the speed at which we can transmit or receive the information of interest to us will depend.

So, this is a parameter that determines the degree of speed of an SD memory card, according to which all devices are divided into:

1. Class 2 - speed from 2 mb/s to 4 mb/s. Since the write speed is very low, this class of flash drive should not be used in camcorders or digital cameras. The relative cheapness of the card compensates for the lack of speed, so it can be safely used for sound and image playback, that is, in audio or video players, since in this case high speed is not needed.
2. Class 4 - speed from 4 Mb / s and above. For amateur home photography in digital cameras, class four can be used. The fourth class, in addition, is installed in the DVR and some inexpensive non-professional video cameras.
3. Class 6 - guaranteed speed from 6 Mb / s and above. A flash drive of this level can already be installed in semi-professional camcorders and SLR cameras that shoot in RAW format. They allow you to get a fairly high quality shooting.
4. Class 10 - the speed is from 10 Mb / s and above. A class 10 flash drive can be equipped with a car recorder, professional video and photo equipment with Full HD recording. Class 10 allows continuous shooting, RAW shooting and image saving, which is of great importance for professional photographers. However, such devices are somewhat more expensive, for example, a microsdhc class 10 memory card will cost at least 1000 rubles.
5. SD Class 16 - speed of at least 16 Mb / s, however, it is still very difficult to buy this card in our country, since it has not yet been widely sold.
6. Ultra High Speed ​​(UHS) - These ultra high speed cards can only be used with compatible devices, which is usually written in the instructions. Class 10 UHS I is a high-speed card, the write speed of which can reach 50 Mb / s or more.

How to determine the class of a memory card? You just need to look at it carefully: the circled number is not the front of the digital storage medium and will be the desired value.

How to choose a flash drive

Please note that the latest memory device formats may not be suitable for older hardware. For example, if a smartphone supports the micro SD format, this does not mean that it will also support high-speed micro SDXC. Therefore, to find out this possibility, it is better to familiarize yourself with the documentation for the smartphone in advance.

Micro SD, like SD media, comes in two formats (SDHC up to 32 GB and SDXC from 64 to 512 GB) and is used in all modern smartphones and tablets. The tenth speed class of such information carriers is no different from their full-size counterparts. Thus, the higher the classes of sdhc memory cards, the faster the data transfer occurs, which is the main advantage of those micro SD cards that are more expensive for the same capacity.

For example, a microsdhc class 10 32GB memory card, costing about 1500 rubles. Ideal for modern digital devices such as phones, camcorders, smartphones, PDAs, audio players and game consoles. If you do not save on the class of equipment, pursuing momentary profit, then you can get long-term excellent results in the future use of technology: high-quality pictures and amazing videos, as well as funds from their sale.

Memory cards in MicroSD, MicroSDHC and MicroSDXC formats are among the most popular custom solutions for PCs and other devices on the market. What are the features of each of the noted varieties of devices?

MicroSD Facts

Memory card format microSD- historically one of the earliest SD standards in the line (or Secure Digital - its creation was the result of further development and improvement of the MMC flash memory standard). MicroSD cards have found the widest application - among users of PCs, smartphones, tablets, photo and video cameras.

The maximum capacity of MicroSD cards is 2 GB. The standard size of products of this type is 11 by 15 mm with a thickness of 1 mm. The maximum speed for writing and reading data on a card of the corresponding type is 25 Mb / s.

Facts about microSDHC

The flash memory standard under consideration is the result of further technological development of the previous format. The corresponding type of memory card has the same size as MicroSD, but has several times more capacity - 4-32 GB. In addition, they are characterized by a higher speed of writing and reading data - 50-150 Mb / s.

Please note that the cards microSDHC in most cases cannot be recognized by MicroSD readers. In turn, there are usually no problems with backward compatibility of cards and card readers. This is due to the fact that the MicroSD standard only supports file systems such as FAT 12 and FAT 16 (in various modifications), while MicroSD cards are formatted in FAT 32.

Facts about MicroSDXC

The next technological step in the development of the SD card standard MicroSDXC. Their main advantage is a very large capacity, which can range from 32 GB to 2 TB. But the size of the card is the same as that of the previous modifications - 11 by 15 mm with a thickness of 1 mm. MicroSDXC uses the exFAT file system.

The speed of writing and reading data on MicroSDXC cards is 50-312 Mb / s. The specific indicator depends on the version of the device. Cards in modification 3.0 that support the UHS-1 standard write and read data at speeds up to 104 Mb / s. Devices in version 4.0 that are compatible with UHS-2 technology can provide a rate of 312 Mb / s.

MicroSDXC card readers are capable of recognizing MicroSD and MicroSDHC standards. In turn, card readers adapted for MicroSD and MicroSDHC are incompatible with MicroSDXC devices.

Comparison

The difference between MicroSD, MicroSDHC and MicroSDXC should be looked for in the following aspects:

• card capacity;
• supported data writing and reading speed;
• used file system;
• mutual compatibility of card readers adapted to specific types of cards.

The size of all types of cards is the same.

More clearly, the difference between MicroSD, MicroSDHC and MicroSDXC cards can be displayed in the form of a small table in relation to the marked points.

Table

For most people, microSD is just a form factor, but it really isn't. You can easily insert any microSD card into a standard slot, but not every one of them will work, since cards differ in many ways.

Format

There are three different SD formats in total, available in two form factors (SD and microSD):

• SD (microSD) - drives up to 2 GB, work with any equipment;
• SDHC (micro SDHC) - drives from 2 to 32 GB, work on devices with support for SDHC and SDXC;
• SDXC (microSDXC) - drives from 32 GB to 2 TB (currently maximum 512 GB), only work on SDXC-enabled devices.

As you can see, they are not backwards compatible. Memory cards of the new format will not work on old equipment.

Volume

Support for microSDXC declared by the manufacturer does not mean support for cards of this format with any volume and depends on the specific device. For example, HTC One M9 works with microSDXC, but officially only supports cards up to and including 128 GB.

Another important point is related to the volume of drives. All microSDXC cards use the exFAT file system by default. Windows has been supporting it for more than 10 years, it has appeared in OS X since version 10.6.5 (Snow Leopard), exFAT support has been implemented in Linux distributions, but out of the box it does not work everywhere.

High speed UHS interface

SDHC and SDXC cards can support the Ultra High Speed ​​interface, which provides higher speeds (UHS-I up to 104 MB/s and UHS-II up to 312 MB/s) if the device has hardware support. UHS is backward compatible with earlier interfaces and can work with devices that do not support it, but at standard speed (up to 25 MB/s).

2. Speed

Classifying the write and read speed of microSD cards is as complex as their formats and compatibility. The specs allow four ways to describe card speed, and since manufacturers use them all, there's a lot of confusion.

speed class

The Speed ​​Class is the minimum write speed to the memory card in megabytes per second. There are four in total:

• Class 2- from 2 MB/s;
• Class 4- from 4 MB/s;
• Class 6- from 6 MB/s;
• Class 10- from 10 MB/s.

Cards operating on the high-speed UHS bus have only two speed classes so far:

• Class 1 (U1)- from 10 MB/s;
• Class 3 (U3)- from 30 MB/s.

Since the minimum value of the entry is used in the designation of the speed class, theoretically a card of the second class may well be faster than a card of the fourth. Although, if this is the case, the manufacturer will most likely prefer to state this fact more explicitly.

Max Speed

The speed class is enough to compare cards when choosing, but some manufacturers also use the maximum speed in MB / s in the description, and more often not even the write speed (which is always lower), but the read speed.

Usually these are the results of synthetic tests under ideal conditions, which are unattainable with normal use. In practice, the speed depends on many factors, so you should not focus on this characteristic.

Speed ​​multiplier

Another classification option is a speed multiplier, similar to the one used to indicate the read and write speed of optical discs. There are more than ten of them, from 6x to 633x.

The 1x multiplier is 150 KB/s, which means that the simplest 6x cards have a speed of 900 KB/s. The fastest cards can have a multiplier of 633x, which is 95 MB/s.

3. Tasks

Choose the right card for specific tasks. The biggest and fastest is not always the best. For certain use cases, volume and speed may be excessive.

When buying a card for a smartphone, volume plays a bigger role than speed. The advantages of a large storage are obvious, but the advantages of a high transfer rate on a smartphone are almost not felt, since large files are rarely written and read there (unless you have a smartphone with 4K video support).

Cameras shooting HD and 4K video are a completely different matter: both speed and volume are equally important here. For 4K video, camera manufacturers recommend using UHS U3 cards, for HD - regular Class 10 or at least Class 6.

For photos, many professionals prefer to use several smaller cards to minimize the risk of losing all the pictures in force majeure. As for the speed, it all depends on the photo format. If you shoot in RAW, it makes sense to invest in microSDHC or microSDXC class UHS U1 and U3 - in this case, they will reveal themselves to the fullest.

4. Fakes

No matter how trite it may sound, but buying a fake under the guise of original cards is now easier than ever. A few years ago, SanDisk claimed that a third of the SanDisk memory cards on the market were counterfeit. It is unlikely that the situation has changed much since that time.

To avoid disappointment when buying, it is enough to be guided by common sense. Refrain from buying from untrustworthy sellers and beware of "original" cards that are priced well below the official price.

Attackers have learned how to counterfeit packaging so well that it can sometimes be very difficult to distinguish it from the original. With full confidence, it is possible to judge the authenticity of a particular card only after verification with the help of special utilities:

• h2testw- for Windows;

If you have already experienced the loss of important data due to a broken memory card for one reason or another, then when it comes to choosing, you will most likely prefer a more expensive card from a well-known brand than an affordable "no-name".

In addition to greater reliability and safety of your data, with a branded card you will receive high speed and a guarantee (in some cases even a lifetime).

Now you know everything you need to know about SD cards. As you can see, there are many questions that you will have to answer before purchasing a card. Perhaps the best idea would be to have different maps for different needs. So you can use all the advantages of the equipment and not expose your budget to unnecessary costs.

Today's article is a brief educational program on SD memory cards. These flash cards are widely used in modern technology: in mobile phones, GPS-navigators, cameras and camcorders.

SD is by far the most popular memory card standard today. The vast majority of devices that work with memory cards support this particular standard.

SD memory cards come in three different sizes. This made it possible to cover different devices: from miniature audio players to professional video cameras.

So what are the SD card form factors:

microSD– these cards are intended for use in mobile phones, smartphones, tablets and other compact devices.

Exist four generations of SD memory cards:

• SD 1.0- holds the amount of information from 8 MB to 2 GB
• SD 1.1– up to 4 GB
• SDHC– up to 32 GB
• SDXC– up to 2 TB

In the case of SD cards, there is backward compatibility: i.e. SDXC-capable devices understand the SDHC format and the older SD format (but not vice versa!).

Memory cards differ not only in size or volume. One of the main parameters is speed exchange information with the device.

SD card speed manufacturers designate either in the form class, or in the form multiplier:

• SD class 2– write speed not less than 2 MB/ with 13x;
• SD Class 4– write speed not less than 4 MB/s, which corresponds to the multiplier 26x;
• SD class 6– write speed not less than 6 MB/s, which corresponds to the multiplier 40x;
• SD class 10– write speed not less than 10 MB/s, which corresponds to the multiplier 66x;
• SD class 16– write speed not less than 16 MB/s, which corresponds to the multiplier 106x.

As you can see, the speed class of the card directly indicates the speed of its operation in MB / s. To find out what class your memory card has - just look at its front part: it should be indicated there. For example, in this case, the card tenth speed class:

Before buying an SD memory card, you need to find out what speed class your device requires. This information should be indicated in the instructions for it.

The speed class is important for those who are going to shoot video. For example, Full HD video recording requires a recording speed of 3 MB/s, which corresponds to a Class 4 memory card. Using a slower card will cause shooting problems. However, in some cases, the video streaming rate can reach 6 MB/s. Therefore, for movie shooting, it is better to buy memory cards ranging from Class 6 and higher.

How transfer information directly from the SD card to the computer? To do this, there are special devices called card readers. The card reader can be either external (connected via a USB connector) or built into a computer or laptop.

After connecting the card reader to the computer, insert your memory card into the appropriate slot. After that, go to Windows in “Computer” - the flash drive will appear in the “Devices with removable media” section. You can open it and perform file operations.

built-in internal card reader

In conclusion, I want to say that when buying an SD card, it is better not to chase cheapness, but to purchase a card from a well-known manufacturer (I would recommend Transcend). Because Losing the captured photos or videos due to a failed card will be very disappointing.

The development history of SD cards has more than 10 years. During this period, drives changed several generations, increased the maximum amount of memory, added speed and became commonplace for the average user of technology. Let's see how SDHC memory cards differ from SDHC and SD. We will also understand their characteristics and how to choose the right drive for your device.

SD drives are different from SDHC and SDXC.

The abbreviation SD stands for Secure Memory Card. This media type has been produced since 1999. Of course, today no one uses cards in their original form for obvious reasons. Over time, the creators began to increase the characteristics and volume, releasing new generations, which will be discussed later.

The main difference, as mentioned above, is capacity. However, devices also differ in read/write speed and support in different devices (cameras, phones, and so on). There are 3 types in total:

• SD High Capacity;

Let's look at the differences between SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards for all characteristics separately.

Volume difference

The oldest and unclaimed type is MicroSD. The first generation holds only up to 2 GB of information (version 1.0) and up to 4 GB in version 1.1. These figures are extremely small for the modern consumer today, given the size of the high-quality videos and photos that new smartphones and cameras give out. Such media may only be useful for transferring small files. It makes no sense to specifically purchase such a carrier. FAT16 is used as the file system.

The second type is SDHC cards. They differ from ordinary SD in an increased amount of space and a file system. Now the maximum capacity is up to 32 GB, using the FAT32 file system.

The most modern kind is the SD eXtended Capacity. The standard was officially released in 2009 and remains in demand to this day. Compared with the previous generation, the SDXC standard, which differs in volume, can hold up to 2 TB of information. The file system is exFAT with FAT32 formatting support.

Support for devices and operating systems

As of 2017, the SD generation is supported by all devices that have the appropriate slot. All SD-only devices will not be able to read information from HC or XC media. Cameras and smartphones supporting SD eXtended Capacity are compatible with all three generations. There is no backward compatibility.

SD can also differ from High Capacity and eXtended Capacity in terms of support by operating systems:

• due to exFAT, SDXC drives are not supported by the Windows XP operating system without installing a special update;
• MacBook and Mac OS have had SD eXtended Capacity support since 2011;
• flagship Android devices support SD eXtended Capacity. For all other smartphones and tablets, you will need a special driver from Samsung.

The difference between Micro and Mini

Now let's figure out how MicroSD, MicroSDHC memory cards differ from their Mini counterparts. As you might guess, the main difference lies in the size. For compact technology, a Mini version has been created, which is usually supported in smartphones (it is customary to install it on the second SIM card slot). The difference between MicroSDHC, SDXC and SD is that they connect to the card reader without an adapter, while the Mini version needs an adapter.

Speed ​​difference

Now let's analyze the differences between all SD, SDHC, SDXC memory cards in terms of information reading speed. Speed ​​classes are marked on the case of each drive: 2 (from 2 Mb/s), 4 (from 4 Mb/s), 6 (from 6 Mb/s), 10 (from 10 Mb/s). The designation of the classes indicates the minimum value of the write speed, therefore, in practice, the performance of a single drive may be higher. Manufacturers indicate characteristics in Mb / s, and not according to the established classification. Also SDHC and SDXC can support Ultra High Speed ​​technology (up to 25 Mb/s).

When choosing a drive, pay attention to its type and volume. Relevant today are SDHC and SDXC. Also, before buying, check compatibility with the device for which the media is being purchased to avoid incompatibility.