CES '09: 100 HD Movies on a Stamp-Sized Chip
If storing 100 HD movies on a SD card seems a little far-fetched, think again: the SD Association says it will be possible in 5 years!
The SD Association is labeling the new format as "SDXC," and according to the organization, the spec will be released in Q1 2009. The big deal with this new format is that it increases current storage capacities of 32 GB up to a whopping 2 TB. The format also increases SD interface read/write speeds up to 104 MB per second. Beyond that, the SD Association is shooting for 300 MB per second.
Of course, many consumers will ask just why anyone would need 2 terabytes of storage space on a single card. That's 2000 gigabytes of digital information. Five or ten years ago, consumers would have wondered why anyone would need Internet and TV on a cell phone, yet consumers of today can't seem to live without that luxury, now somewhat dependant on the technology. With SD cards capable of up to 2 TB of storage, consumers can store 100 HD movies, 480 hours of HD recording or 136,000 hi-res photos and more than 4,000 RAW images on one chip.
“SDXC combines a higher capacity roadmap with faster transfer speeds as a means to exploit NAND flash memory technology as a compelling choice for portable memory storage and interoperability,” said Joseph Unsworth, research director, NAND Flash Semiconductors, at Gartner. “With industry support, SDXC presents manufacturers with the opportunity to kindle consumer demand for more advanced handset features and functionality in consumer electronics behind the ubiquitous SD interface.”
James Taylor, president of the SD Association (and not the songwriter), says that the new SDXC format will enable consumers to download higher quality content to their mobile phones and devices including games, video and music. SDXC will provide maximum speeds without hindering the high-speed performance necessary for high-end photography, even when the format reaches its 2 TB capacity. The initial shipment of SDXC cards will more than likely feature 64GB storage, doubling current SD card helpings.
Canon seems pretty stoked about the new format. "SDXC is a large-capacity card that can store more than 4,000 RAW images, which is the uncompressed mode professionals use. That capacity, combined with the exFAT file system, increases movie recording time and reduces starting time to improve photo capturing opportunities,” said Shigeto Kanda, general manager at Canon. “Improvements in interface speed allow further increases in continuous shooting speed and higher resolution movie recordings. As a memory card well suited to small-sized user-friendly digital cameras, the SDXC specification will help consumers realize the full potential of our cameras."
The SD Association says that the new SDXC format uses Microsoft's exFAT file system, designed for increased compatibility with flash media. Established in January 2000, the organization itself includes over 1,100 technology companies including HP, SanDisk, Panasonic, and Toshiba.
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Update (01/12/09) : Sorry guys, I removed the offending sentence from the article. Shouldn't happen in the future.--Tuan Nguyen
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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shachar2 sd association is short sighted again and limits the future generation of SD cards to only 2TB.Reply
there's already a 1.5TB HD on sale by seagate 2TB limit isn't a sight to the future but solving a problem on the short run
sd association sucks someone should be fired for this joke -
knightmike The memristor prototype by HP can store 100 GB per square centimeter and is 1/10 the speed of DRAM. Look up memristor on wikipedia for more information.Reply -
Mishiza"Yeah baby. Portable porn just got easier!"Reply
Brilliant writing, pure journalism...
I agree;Highly unprofessional!
Companies should instantly fire an employee like that if they care about their appearance to the outsider... I mean, this is not a blog or forum where you would expect such a comments... -
JTWrenn Shachar2, you just compared a single SD chip to a hard drive....that is just plain stupid. You never need the same storage space on an SD as you do on an HD. Setting their sights any higher would be pointless and probably impractical price wise for this standard. Considering right now they only make 32gb chips, what makes you think they can make a 2tb right now? It will probably take them quite a while to make the 2tb chip so the idea that it should be higher is just stupid.Reply
Right now the maximum storage for a single chip device is 32GB. In 2003 the largest HD (that I can find at least) was 300gb. So over 5 years the HD increased 5 times over. If that holds true for the SD chip (which it won't, I am sure it will grow faster but still) Then we should have 160GB chips in 5 years....oh now we better increase that 2TB limit.
The chips will need to grow to 46 times their current density before running into this problem. That is 9 times faster than HD growth was, with a lot less room to work in.
So, judging by history...I think we will be just fine. -
shachar2 JTWrenn while I understand your argument I'm talking about the current sdxc STANDARD. a standard should have room to grow and not be limited, while 2TB seems a really high capacity right now in a few years as always been the case it won'tReply
I've been in the industry for more then a decade now and the thing I've learned is that capacity always becomes the bottleneck and small as other technologies progress onwards
while a 2TB SD card won't be available for the time being a STANDARD should have enough room to grow and not be limited and changed every few years, that is what I don't understand about the SD Association and their desicion making.
Best Regards
Shachar2 -
Dekasav They have a square inch (give or take). And you think that increasing the size 46 times is too little? In electronics things move fast, and more often are multiplicative rather than additive, but to increase something 46 times over takes several years, at least.Reply
We now have 4Gb sticks of DDR3 RAM, I'm not aware of anyone who makes an 8Gb stick. 1/46th of 4Gb is ~64Mb. How many years ago was it that the biggest RAM stick you could buy (with infinite $) was 64Mb. I know it was more than 10 years ago, my Dell purchased in 1998 had a 64Mb stick.
Sure, we'll reach the 2Tb capacity, will it be in "a few years", 3-4 years isn't THAT long. Maybe, but I doubt it. Either way, they'll just change the standard. There may be some significant electronic or exFAT reason for the 2Tb. It's not likely they just picked an arbitrary amount. -
mdillenbeck ProDigit80I agree;Highly unprofessional!Companies should instantly fire an employee like that if they care about their appearance to the outsider... I mean, this is not a blog or forum where you would expect such a comments...Reply
Hmm, over the last few months of reading, I assumed that Tom's had intentionally shifted from news article format to just a blog - after all, most of their articles now seem to be stating opinion and informal statements like the one in this article.
Perhaps someone at Tom's would like to comment on whether they are a news media source or blog?
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wonton04 ProDigit80I agree;Highly unprofessional!Companies should instantly fire an employee like that if they care about their appearance to the outsider... I mean, this is not a blog or forum where you would expect such a comments...Reply
Well what can we do to stop this? Can we edit it?
No...we cant...I guess we're going to have to grow a sense of humor...
*sigh
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Zoonie LOL @ the porn comment. Nowadays it feels like they give journalist jobs to kids fresh out of high school.Reply
Ooh THG of the 90's, how we miss thee.