Performance + Cost Analysis: The best SD Card / MicroSD for you!

Full Size SD Card discussion goes here (See next post (#2) for MicroSD cards)

SD Cards can be Regular SD (1MB-4GB), SDHC (4GB to 32GB) and SDXC (64GB and up)

---------

Introduction:

There are a lot of SD Cards on the market nowadays. How do you know which one to pick?

In the end, what really matters is what's the fastest for your use. Whether you have specific or general uses, it's all up to you to decide.

Obviously speed comes at a cost of $$$. Maybe you don't want the fastest, but certainly not the cheapest, so I'll have a "best bang for buck" section.

--------

Summary: If you don't want to read anymore, just get the SanDisk Extreme 45MB/s or any decent UHS-I card that has U1 Speed Class 1

--------

In depth:

First we'll go over speeds, bus types/connections, and card readers

For SD Spec 2.0 speeds, we have Class 2, 4, 6 and 10
- each one of these represents the minimum sequential MB/s in write speed that the card will perform
- note that if you get a higher performance, it is an added bonus, but it is not something that you should expect all the time). I read how someone posted that they expected a a Class 6 to do 12MB/s, Class 10 to do 20MB/s, etc... this is totally wrong.
- if you want a fast card (that's faster than the rated Class series), you should get a card that has a manufacturer guarantee of a minimum MB/s rating.

SD Spec 3.0 introduces UHS-I Bus and UHS-I Class ratings
- the bus allows the card to perform @ a higher overall speed, denoted by an I on the card
- the UHS-I Speed Class 1 has a rating of a performance of "something close to" 50MB/s (either read or write). It is denoted by having a 1 inside a U on the card.
- UHS-I Speed Class 2 is around 100MB/s
- SD Spec 3.0 is backwards compatible with SD Spec 2.0, and will have a 2.0 Class rating to go long with it.

----------

Card Readers and Ports

Most people will use SD Cards with USB 2.0 Card Readers and USB 2.0 ports.

Even though the USB 2.0 Spec is rated at 480mbit/s (that's 60MB/s), there is a lot of overhead in that goes with SD cards and readers (power, QoS, etc..) which typically brings down typical transfer speeds that max out @ around 20MB/s on average (depending on card reader).
I had a card reader that maxed @ 22MB/s, and another built-in one from a laptop that did 10MB/s max!

People with USB 3.0 Card Readers and USB 3.0 ports can enjoy a nice speed boost if using an SD Spec 3.0 UHS-I card.
They will also see (generally) a slight speed increase (around 5-10%) if using an SD Spec 2.0 card in a USB 3.0 card reader (whether using a USB 2.0 or 3.0 port).

---------

UHS-I (SD Spec 3.0) vs. Class 10 (SD Spec 2.0)

So a lot of people ask, "I don't have a device that can get those high UHS-I speeds, so I wouldn't bother with them anyway. I'll just get the cheapest/fastest Class 10".

Not all Class 10 cards are made the same. Remember that they only need to do a minimum sequential write of 10MB/s to meet that specification.
Also, I've never seen any regular SD Spec 2.0 Class 10 cards that are just as fast as a SD Spec 3.0 UHS-I card that's working in SD Spec 2.0 Class 10 mode

Example: A popular card, the Transcend 32GB Class 10 gets around 20MB/s read and 16MB/s write.
- This is whether it's in a USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 reader, or USB 2.0 or 3.0 port.

However, the SanDisk Extreme 45MB/s:
- In a USB 2.0 card reader in USB 2.0 port, will get 20MB/s read and 20MB/s write
- In a USB 2.0 card reader in USB 3.0 port, will get 20MB/s read and 20MB/s write
- In a USB 3.0 card reader in USB 2.0 port, will get 36MB/s read and 30MB/s write
- In a USB 3.0 card reader in USB 3.0 port, will get 45MB/s read and 43MB/s write

Note that both the Transcend and SanDisk Extreme are both rated Class 10 (a minimum of 10MB/s sequential write).
They only need to adhere to that standard, and anything "extra" is a bonus.
However, in this case, SanDisk is throwing in their own manufacturer guarantee of a minimum of 45MB/s .
It gets 45MB/s read and 43MB/s write, so it matches up pretty well.

--------

Cost/Performance Analysis:

Obviously the SanDisk Extreme 45MB/s is a fast card. Probably the best 32GB card you can get for $35.
The question is, do you need it? How much are you willing to pay for that speed?
Regular Class 10 cards have gone on sale for "much" lower (it depends what your definition of "much" is).

Example 1: The 32GB Patriot EP SDHC rivals the performance of the Extreme 45MB/s Series:
- In a USB 2.0 card reader in USB 2.0 port, will get 20MB/s read and 20MB/s write
- In a USB 2.0 card reader in USB 3.0 port, will get 20MB/s read and 20MB/s write
- In a USB 3.0 card reader in USB 2.0 port, will get 36MB/s read and 30MB/s write
- In a USB 3.0 card reader in USB 3.0 port, will get 54MB/s read and 38MB/s write
With a slightly slower write (38MB/s vs 43MB/s) but faster read (54MB/s vs 45MB/s) it may be a good compromise for some.
And naturally, it will blow away any regular Class 10 card. At $5 less ($30), I'd say its worth it

Example 2: SanDisk Ultra 30MB/s Class 10:
- In a USB 2.0 card reader in USB 2.0 port, will get 20MB/s read and 14MB/s write
- In a USB 2.0 card reader in USB 3.0 port, will get 20MB/s read and 14MB/s write
- In a USB 3.0 card reader in USB 2.0 port, will get 36MB/s read and 14MB/s write
- In a USB 3.0 card reader in USB 3.0 port, will get 40MB/s read and 14MB/s write
A new SanDisk card, but with "average" write speeds.
Note that SanDisk says "up to 30MB/s read* -- write speeds may be lower, and it is!
Unlike the Extreme Series, this Ultra Series has a huge difference between read and write speed.
You can see here also that USB 2.0 is a bottleneck for read speeds.
There's no performance increase in write speed regardless of card reader/port.
You can tell that it's not even going to get any higher since it doesn't even go anywhere near the USB 2.0 write limitation.
However this card is still much faster than some other lower quality Class 10's. And you get that extra read speed
But for $25, can you really complain? Well, do you "need" that extra write speed? The decision is yours!

Example 3: Philips 32GB Class 10:
- In a USB 2.0 card reader in USB 2.0 port, will get 20MB/s read and 12MB/s write
Not even going to bother trying to test this card in USB 3.0 card reader or USB 3.0 port
But for $22, can you really complain? Well, do you "need" that extra write speed? The decision is yours!

Historical Pricing (meaning, these cards have been as low as):

- 32GB SanDisk Extreme 45MB/s SDHC has been $35 (that's ~$1.09/GB)
- 32GB Patriot EP Series ----------- SDHC has been $25 (that's ~$0.94/GB)
- 32GB SanDisk Ultra 30MB/s ---- SDHC has been $25 (that's ~$0.78/GB)
- 32GB Philips --------------------------- SDHC has been $22 (that's ~$0.69/GB)

-----

Non-recommended cards

Patriot LX - terrible/unreliable cards
Sony 32GB SDHC - terrible performance - is Class 10, but barely gets 10MB/s write! <-- not sufficient enough to record 1080p video on Canon T2i / T3i / 60D / 5DM3 / 7D* / 5DM2*
-- * requires SD->CF adapter


to be edited

MicroSD Cards!

MicroSD Cards can be Regular MicroSD (1MB-4GB), MicroSDHC (4GB to 32GB) and MicroSDXC (64GB and up)

-----

Note that here it is trickier to talk about MicroSD. In SD cards, you really only need the fastest card in general.
However, for MicroSD, it has to be broken down into 2 categories: sequential write, and Random 4K write.

In this case, there are a lot of card that have great sequential write, but terrible Random 4K write. Few cards have both great sequential write, and great Random 4K write

Summary: If you don't want to read anymore, just get the Samsung High Speed (non-Plus) Class 10 Series, or the SanDisk Mobile Ultra UHS-I Class 6 Series

Additional Info:

When you use a microSD/SDHC/SDXC card in an android device, there are 2 factors that you have to consider:

- sequential write
- random 4k write

Sequential write is obvious (Class 4 = minimum 4MB/s sequential write, Class 6/10 = etc..). Copy large files to the card is where you'll see your limitation

However, there is random 4k write. If you plan on running anything off the SD (app storage, app cache, etc..) then this is very, very important.
For MicroSD cards:
- most Class 4, 1/2 of the Class 6 cards, and very few Class 10 cards will do random 4k write at around ~1.5MB/s. it sounds slow, but its good enough for most applications
- most Class 10 cards will have a random 4k write of about ~0.01MB/s (that is not a typo). That means that most Class 4 micro cards are theoretically 150x faster than most Class 10 micro cards.

There is a new breed of high speed Class 6/Class 10 micro cards that have great sequential write ( > 10MB/s) AND great random4k write (> 1.5MB/s)

So far the only cards that I would personally recommend:
- the Samsung High Speed Class 10 32GB MicroSDHC, which gets 13MB/s sequential write and 1.5MB/s random 4k write (note, do NOT GET THE PLUS VERSION). The Plus version has 0.01MB/s random 4k write, but around 16MB/s sequential write.
- the SanDisk Mobile Ultra Class 6 30MB/s Series (32GB MicroSDHC or 64GB MicroSDHC). Even though its only Class 6, it can routinely get around 9.5MB/s sequential write, and 1.5MB/s random 4k write.

Hope this helps!

to be edited

test failed



houston we have a problem

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital

Secure Digital
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"SDHC" redirects here. For the gene, see SDHC (gene).
SD, SDHC, SDXC

SD (top), miniSD, microSD cards
Media type Memory card
Capacity SDSC (SD): 1 MB to 2 GB, some 4 GB available.
SDHC: 4 GB to 32 GB
SDXC: ≥32 GB to 2 TB
Developed by SD Card Association
Dimensions Standard: 32×24×2.1 mm
Mini: 21.5×20×1.4 mm
Micro: 15×11×1.0 mm
Weight Standard: ~2 g
Mini: ~0.8 g
Micro: ~0.25 g
Usage Portable devices, including digital cameras and handheld computers
Extended from MultiMediaCard (MMC)
Secure Digital (SD) is a non-volatile memory card format developed by the SD Card Association (SDA) for use in portable devices. The SD technology is used by more than 400 brands across dozens of product categories and more than 8,000 models.[1]
SD comprises several families of cards:[2] the original, Standard-Capacity (SDSC) card, a High-Capacity (SDHC) card family, an eXtended-Capacity (SDXC) card family,[3] and the SDIO[4] family with input/output functions rather than just data storage.
SD also comprises three different form factors: the original size, the "mini" size, and the "micro" size (see illustration). Electrically passive adaptors allow the use of a smaller card in a host device built to hold a larger card. There are many combinations of form factors and device families.
Host devices that comply with newer versions of the specification provide backward compatibility and accept older SD cards, but older host devices do not recognize newer cards. The SDA uses several trademarked logos to enforce compliance with its specifications and assure users of compatibility.[5] This article explains several factors that can prevent the use of a newer SD card:
A newer card may offer greater capacity than the host device can handle.
A newer card may use a file system the host device cannot navigate.
Use of an SDIO card requires the host device be designed for the input/output functions the card provides.
The organization of the card was changed starting with the SDHC family.
Some vendors produced SDSC cards above 1 GB before the SDA had standardized a method of doing so.

Contents [hide]
1 Types of cards
1.1 Physical size
1.2 SDHC
1.3 SDXC
1.4 SDIO
2 Features
2.1 Card security (non-DRM)
2.2 DRM features
2.3 Vendor enhancements
3 Speeds
3.1 Speed Class Rating
3.2 “×” rating
3.3 UHS Speed Class
4 Market penetration
4.1 Digital cameras
4.2 Personal computers
4.3 Embedded systems
5 History
5.1 Relation to MMC
5.2 Follow-on products
5.3 Openness of the standard
6 Technical details
6.1 Transfer modes
6.2 Interface
6.3 File system
6.4 Power use
7 Storage capacity and incompatibilities
7.1 SDSC cards above 1 GB
7.2 Storage capacity calculations
8 Comparison to other flash memory formats
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
[edit]Types of cards

The SDA extended the SD specification in various ways:
It defined electrically identical cards in smaller sizes: miniSD and microSD (originally named TransFlash or TF). Smaller cards are usable in larger slots through use of a passive adapter. By comparison, Reduced Size MultiMediaCards (RS-MMCs) are simply shorter MMCs and can be used in MMC slots by use of a physical extender.
It defined higher-capacity cards, some with faster speeds and added capabilities: SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) and SDXC (Secure Digital eXtended Capacity). These cards redefine the interface so that they cannot be used in older host devices.
It defined an SDIO card family that provides input-output functions and may also provide memory functions. These cards are only fully functional in host devices designed to support their input-output functions.
[edit]Physical size


Size comparison of families: SD, miniSD, microSD
The SD card specification defines three physical sizes. The SD and SDHC families are available in all three sizes, but the SDXC family is not available in the mini size, and the SDIO family is not available in the micro size.
Standard size
SD (SDSC), SDHC, SDXC, SDIO
32 mm × 24 mm × 2.1 mm
32 mm × 24 mm × 1.4 mm (as thin as MMC) for Thin SD (rare)
Mini size
miniSD, miniSDHC, miniSDIO
21.5 mm × 20 mm × 1.4 mm
Micro size
The microSD form factor is the smallest memory card format currently available.[6]
microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC
15 mm × 11 mm × 1.0 mm
[edit]SDHC


16GB SDHC Class 6
The Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) format, defined in Version 2.0 of the SD specification, supports cards with capacities up to 32 GB.[1] The SDHC trademark is licensed to ensure compatibility.[7]
SDHC cards are physically and electrically identical to standard-capacity SD cards (SDSC). The major compatibility issues between SDHC and SDSC cards are the redefinition of the Card-Specific Data (CSD) register in Version 2.0 (see below), and the fact that SDHC cards are shipped preformatted with the FAT32 file system.
Host devices that accept SDHC cards are required to accept SDSC cards.[1] However, host devices designed for SDSC do not recognize SDHC or SDXC memory cards, although some devices can do so through a firmware upgrade.[8] Older operating systems require patches to support SDHC. For instance, Microsoft Windows XP before SP3 requires a patch to support access to SDHC cards.[9] Windows Vista SP1 also requires a later service pack.[10][11]
[edit]SDXC


Official SDXC logo.
The Secure Digital Extended Capacity (SDXC) format supports cards up to 2 TB (2048 GB), compared to a limit of 32 GB for SDHC cards in the SD 2.0 specification.
History
SDXC was announced at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2009 (January 7–10, 2009). At the same show, SanDisk and Sony also announced a comparable Memory Stick XC variant with the same 2 TB maximum as SDXC,[12] and Panasonic announced plans to produce 64 GB SDXC cards.[13]
On March 6, 2009, Pretec introduced the first SDXC card,[14] a 32 GB card with a read/write speed of 400 Mbit/s. But it was not until early 2010 that compatible host devices came onto the market, including Sony's Handycam HDR-CX55V camcorder, Canon's EOS Rebel T2i Digital SLR camera,[15] a USB card reader from Panasonic, and an integrated SDXC card reader from JMicron.[16] The earliest laptops to integrate SDXC card readers relied on a USB 2.0 bus, which does not have the bandwidth to support SDXC at full speed.[17]
Also in early 2010, commercial SDXC cards appeared from Toshiba (64 GB),[18][19] Panasonic (64 GB and 48 GB),[20] and SanDisk (64 GB).[21] In early 2011, Centon Electronics, Inc. (64 GB and 128 GB) and Lexar (128 GB)[22] began shipping SDXC cards rated at Speed Class 10. Pretec offered cards from 8 GB to 128 GB rated at Speed Class 16.[23]
In September 2011, SanDisk released a 64 GB microSDXC card.[24] Kingmax released a comparable product in 2011.[25]
Compatibility with SDHC
SDXC host devices accept all previous families of SD memory cards.[26] Conversely, SDHC host devices will accept SDXC cards that follow Version 3.0, since the interface is identical,[3] but the following issues may affect usability:
SDXC cards are pre-formatted with Microsoft's proprietary and patented exFAT file system, which the host device might not support. Since Microsoft does not publish the specifications of exFAT and its use requires a non-free license, many alternative or older operating systems do not support exFAT for technical or legal reasons. The use of exFAT on some SDXC cards may render SDXC unsuitable as a universal exchange medium, as an SDXC card that uses exFAT would not be usable in all host devices. Since the FAT32 file system supports volumes up to the SDXC's maximum theoretical capacity of 2 TB as well, a user could reformat an SDXC card to use FAT32 for greater portability between computers (see below). FAT32-formatted SDXC cards can be used in a host device built for SDHC if the host device can handle 64GB and larger volumes.
SDHC host devices will not test the new capability bits defined for SDXC 4.0 cards. It will therefore not be able to use the new features of SDXC, such as transfer speeds above UHS104 (104MB/s).
Host operating system support
Microsoft Windows versions that support SDXC are: Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1+,[3] Windows XP SP2 or SP3 with KB955704,[27] Windows Server 2008 SP1+, Windows Server 2003 SP2 or SP3 with KB955704, and Windows CE 6.0 and higher.
Apple Mac OS X versions that support SDXC cards and exFAT are Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.5 or later including OS X Lion 10.7.[28][29]
BSD and Linux systems that support SDHC cards also support SDXC cards that contain a compatible file system, but they normally do not support the proprietary exFAT file system that is installed on SDXC cards, because of patent issues. However, Google Code contains an implementation.[30] The user may reformat the card to contain a different file system (see below).
[edit]SDIO


Camera using the SDIO interface to connect to some HP iPAQ devices
A SDIO (Secure Digital Input Output) card is an extension of the SD specification to cover I/O functions. Host devices that support SDIO (typically PDAs like the Palm Treo, but occasionally laptops or mobile phones) can use the SD slot to support GPS receivers, modems, barcode readers, FM radio tuners, TV tuners, RFID readers, digital cameras, and interfaces to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, and IrDA. Many other SDIO devices have been proposed, but it is now more common for I/O devices to connect using the USB interface.
SDIO cards support most of the memory commands of SD cards. SDIO cards can be structured as 8 logical cards, although currently, the typical way that an SDIO card uses this capability is to structure itself as one I/O card and one memory card.
Host support for SDIO
The SDIO and SD interfaces are mechanically and electrically identical. Host devices built for SDIO cards generally accept SD memory cards without I/O functions. However, the reverse is not true, because host devices need suitable drivers and applications to support the card's I/O functions. For example, an HP SDIO camera usually does not work with PDAs that do not list it as an accessory. Inserting an SDIO card into any SD slot causes no physical damage nor disruption to the host device, but users may be frustrated that the SDIO card does not function fully when inserted into a seemingly compatible slot. (Bluetooth devices exhibit comparable compatibility issues, although to a lesser extent thanks to standardized Bluetooth profiles.)
[edit]Features

[edit]Card security (non-DRM)
Read-only cards
The host device can command the SD card to become read-only (to reject subsequent commands to write information to it). There are several different ways to achieve this, one of which is irreversible.
Using a read-only device in Microsoft Windows may produce errors, as even when merely reading a file, Windows tries to write a timestamp to the device.
Write protection tab
When looking at the card from the top, the right side (the side with the beveled corner) must be notched.
On the left side, there may be a write-protection notch. If the notch is omitted, the card can be read and written. If the card is notched, it is read-only, except that the notch may be partly covered by a sliding tab. In this case, the user can slide the tab upward (toward the contacts) to declare the card read/write, or downward to declare it read-only.
The presence of a notch, and the presence and position of a tab, have no effect on the SD card's operation. A host device that supports write protection should refuse to write to an SD card that is designated read-only in this way. Some host devices do not support write protection, which is an optional feature of the SD specification. Host devices that do obey a read-only indication may give the user a way to override it. The miniSD and microSD formats do not support write protection with the notch-and-tab method.
Typical cards sold as a medium for protected content are permanently marked read-only by having a notch and no sliding tab.
Card password
A host device can lock an SD card using a password of up to 16 bytes, typically supplied by the user. A locked card interacts normally with the host device except that it rejects commands to read and write data. A locked card can be unlocked only by providing the same password. The host device can, after supplying the old password, specify a new password or disable locking. Without the password (typically, in the case that the user forgets the password), the host device can command the card to erase all the data on the card for future re-use (except card data under DRM), but there is no way to gain access to the existing data.
[edit]DRM features
All SD cards incorporate a digital rights management (DRM) scheme. Roughly 10% of the storage capacity of an SD card is not available to the user, but is used by the on-card processor to verify the identity of an application program that it will then allow to read protected content. The card prohibits other accesses, such as users trying to make copies of protected files.
The DRM scheme embedded in the SD cards is the Content Protection for Recordable Media (CPRM or CPPM) specification of the 4C Entity, which features the Cryptomeria cipher (also termed C2). The specification is kept secret and is accessible only to licensees. The scheme has not been broken or hacked, but this feature of SD cards is rarely used to protect content. DVD-Audio uses the same DRM scheme.
Windows Media files can be DRM-encoded so as to make use of the SD card's DRM abilities.[citation needed]
Windows Phone 7 devices use SD cards designed to be accessed only by the phone manufacturer or mobile provider. An SD card inserted into the phone underneath the battery compartment becomes locked "to the phone with an automatically generated key" so that "the SD card cannot be read by another phone, device, or PC".[31] Symbian devices, however, are some of the very few which can perform the necessary low-level format operations on locked SD cards. It is therefore possible to use a device such as the Nokia N8 to reformat the card for subsequent use in other devices.[32]
The Super Digital cards manufactured by Super*Talent are the same in appearance and function as Secure Digital cards, but they lack the CPRM feature of Secure Digital cards.[33]
[edit]Vendor enhancements


SD cards with dual-interface SD and USB connections


SanDisk cards in various colors
Vendors have sought to differentiate their products in the market through various vendor-specific features:
Integrated Wi-Fi — Eye-Fi produces several SD cards with built-in Wi-Fi transceivers providing static security (WEP 40; 104; and 128, WPA-PSK, and WPA2-PSK). The card lets any digital camera with an SD slot transmit captured images over a wireless network, or store the images on the card's memory until it is in range of a wireless network.[34] Some models geotag their pictures.
Pre-loaded content — In 2006, SanDisk announced Gruvi, a microSD card with extra Digital Rights Management (DRM) features, with which to use memory cards as a medium to sell content. SanDisk again announced pre-loaded cards in 2008, under the slotMusic name, this time not using any of the DRM capabilities of the SD card.[35] In 2011, SanDisk offered various collections of 1000 songs on a single slotMusic card for about $40,[36] now restricted to compatible devices and without the ability to copy the files.
Integrated USB connector — The SanDisk SD Plus product can be plugged directly into a USB port without needing a USB card reader.[37] Other companies introduced comparable products, such as the Duo SD product of OCZ Technology and the 3 Way (microSDHC, SDHC, and USB) product of A-DATA, which was available in 2008 only.
Different colors — SanDisk has used various colors of plastic or adhesive label, including a "gaming" line in translucent plastic colors that indicated the card's capacity.
Integrated display — In 2006, A-DATA announced a Super Info SD card with a digital display that provided a two-character label and showed the amount of unused memory on the card.[38]
[edit]Speeds

An SD card's speed is measured by how quickly information can be read from, or written to, the card. In applications that require sustained write throughput, such as video recording, the device might not perform satisfactorily if the SD card's class rating falls below a particular speed. For example, a camcorder built for a Class 6 card may suffer dropouts or corrupted video if a slower card is used. Digital cameras may experience a noticeable lag between shots, while the camera writes the picture to a slower card.
A card's speed depends on many factors, such as the following:
The likelihood of soft errors that the card's controller must re-try
The fact that, on most cards, writing data requires the controller to read and erase a larger region, then rewrite that entire region with the desired part changed
The possibility of fragmentation: that a body of information the host views as a unit is, for historical reasons, written to non-contiguous regions of memory. (This possibility does not cause rotational or head-movement delays as with magnetic media, but it does vary the amount of computation the card's controller must do.)
In early SD cards, the speed was measured with the "×" rating, which compared the average speed of reading data to that of the original CD-ROM drive. Currently, the official unit of measurement is the Speed Class Rating, which guarantees a minimum rate at which data can be written to the card.
The newer families of SD card improve card speed by increasing the bus rate (the frequency of the clock signal that strobes information into and out of the card). Whatever the bus rate, the card can signal to the host that it is "busy" until a read or a write operation is complete. Compliance with a higher speed rating is a guarantee that the card limits its use of the "busy" indication.
[edit]Speed Class Rating


32GB SDHC card
The Speed Class Rating is the official unit of speed measurement for SD cards. The class number guarantees a minimum write speed as a multiple of 8 Mbit/s (1 MB/s). The SDA defines several speed class ratings, but manufacturers may claim conformance to those ratings without independent verification.
The host device can read a card's speed class, unlike the earlier "×" speed ratings. A device can warn the user if the card reports a speed class that falls below an application's minimum need.[39]
These are the ratings of all currently available cards:[40][41]
Class Speed
Class 2 2 MB/s
Class 4 4 MB/s
Class 6 6 MB/s
Class 10 10 MB/s
Speed Classes 2, 4, and 6 assert that the card supports the respective number of MB/s as a minimum sustained write speed for a card in a fragmented state. Class 10 asserts that the card supports 10 MB/s as a minimum non-fragmented sequential write speed.[39] By comparison, the older "×" rating measured maximum speed under ideal conditions, and was vague as to whether this was read speed or write speed.
[edit]“×” rating
The “×” rating is a multiple of the standard CD-ROM drive speed of 1.2 Mbit/s (approximately 150 kB/s). Basic cards transfer data up to six times (6×) the CD-ROM speed; that is, 7.2 Mbit/s. The 2.0 specification defines speeds up to 200×, but is not as specific as Speed Classes are on how to measure speed. Manufacturers may report best-case speeds and may report the card's fastest read speed, which is typically faster than the write speed. Vendors including Transcend and Kingston report their cards' write speed.[42]
This table lists common ratings, the minimum transfer rates, and the corresponding Speed Class (though the comparison is not always exact).
Rating Read Speed
(MB/s) Write Speed
(MB/s) Speed
Class
6× 0.9
10× 1.5
13× 2.0 2.0 2
26× 4.0 4.0 4
32× 4.8 5.0 5
40× 6.0 6.0 6
66× 10.0 10.0 10
100× 15.0 15.0
133× 20.0 20.0
150× 22.5 22.5
200× 30.0 30.0
266× 40.0 40.0
300× 45.0 45.0
400× 60.0 60.0
600× 90.0 90.0
[edit]UHS Speed Class
The Ultra-High Speed (UHS) interface is available on some SDHC and SDXC cards.[43] The following ultra-high speeds are specified:
UHS-I cards, specified in SD Version 3.01,[39] support a clock frequency of 100 MHz (a quadrupling of the original Default Speed), which in four-bit transfer mode could transfer 50 MB/s. UHS-I cards declared as UHS104 also support a clock frequency of 208 MHz, which could transfer 104 MB/s. UHS-I is the only class for which products are currently available.[41]
Double data rate operation at 50 MHz (DDR50) is also specified in Version 3.01, and is mandatory for microSDHC and microSDXC cards labeled as UHS-I. In this mode, four bits are transferred when the clock signal rises and another four bits when it falls, transferring an entire byte on each full clock cycle.
UHS-II cards, to be defined in Version 4.0, further raise the data transfer rate to a theoretical maximum of 312 MB/s.[44][45]
UHS memory cards work best with UHS host devices. The combination lets the user record HD resolution videos to tapeless camcorders while performing other functions. It is also suitable for real-time broadcasts and capturing large HD videos.
Cards that comply with UHS show UHS-I or UHS-II on the label, and report this capability to the host device. Use of UHS requires that the host device command the card to drop from 3.3-volt to 1.8-volt operation and select the 4-bit transfer mode.
[edit]Market penetration



microSD to SD adapter (left), microSD to miniSD adapter (middle), microSD card (right)
Secure Digital cards are used in many consumer electronic devices, and have become a widespread means of storing several gigabytes of data in a small size. Devices where the user may remove and replace cards often, such as digital cameras, camcorders, and video game consoles, tend to use full-sized cards. Devices where small size is paramount, such as mobile phones, tend to use microSD cards. SD cards are not the most economical solution in devices that need only a small amount of non-volatile memory, such as station presets in small radios. They may also not present the best choice for applications where higher storage capacities or speeds are a requirement as provided by other flash card standards such as CompactFlash.
Many personal computers of all types and personal digital assistants (PDAs) use SD cards, either through built-in slots or through an active electronic adaptor. Adaptors exist for the PC card, ExpressBus, USB, FireWire, and the parallel printer port. Active adaptors also let SD cards be used in devices designed for other formats. such as CompactFlash. The FlashPath adaptor lets SD cards be used in a floppy disk drive.
[edit]Digital cameras


A camcorder with a 4 GB SDHC card
SD/MMC cards replaced Toshiba's SmartMedia as the dominant memory card format used in digital cameras. In 2001, SmartMedia had achieved nearly 50% use, but by 2005 SD/MMC had achieved over 40% of the digital camera market and SmartMedia's share had plummeted, with cards not being easily available in 2007.
At this time all the leading digital camera manufacturers use SD in their consumer product lines, including Canon, Casio, Fujifilm, Kodak, Leica, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, Ricoh, Samsung, and Sony. Formerly, Olympus and Fujifilm used XD-Picture Cards (xD cards) exclusively, while Sony only used Memory Stick; however as of January 2010, all three support SD.
Some prosumer and professional digital camera models continue to offer CompactFlash, either on a second card slot or as the only storage, as they offer much higher capacities and faster transfer speeds and historically offered a better price/capacity ratio as well.
Secure Digital memory cards can be used in Sony XDCAM EX camcorders via the MEAD-SD01 adapter.[46]
[edit]Personal computers


USB-based universal Memory card reader
Although many personal computers accommodate SD cards as an auxiliary storage device through a built-in slot or a USB adaptor, SD cards cannot be used as the primary hard disk through the onboard ATA controller because none of the SD card variants supports ATA signalling. This use requires a separate SD controller chip[47] or a SD-to-CompactFlash converter. However, on computers that support bootstrapping from a USB interface, an SD card in a USB adaptor can be the primary hard disk, provided it contains an operating system that supports USB access once the bootstrap is complete.
[edit]Embedded systems


This shield (daughterboard) gives Arduino prototyping microprocessors access to SD cards plugged into the socket.
In 2008, the SDA specified Embedded SD, "leverag[ing] well-known SD standards" to enable non-removable SD-style devices on printed circuit boards.[48] SanDisk provides such memory components under the iNAND brand.[49]
Most modern microcontrollers have built-in SPI logic that can interface to a SD card operating in its SPI mode, providing non-volatile storage. Even if a microcontroller lacks the SPI feature, the feature can be emulated by bit banging. For example, a home-brew hack combines spare General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) pins of the processor of the Linksys WRT54G router with MMC support code from the Linux kernel.[50] This technique can achieve throughput of up to 1.6 Mbit/s.
[edit]History



On top: a microSDHC card that stores about 8 billion bytes. Below it: 64 units of magnetic-core memory, used until the 1970s, that stored eight bytes.
In 1999, SanDisk, Matsushita, and Toshiba agreed to develop and market the Secure Digital (SD) Memory Card, which was a development of the MultiMediaCard (MMC). The new card provided both digital rights management (DRM) up to the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) standard, and a high memory density for the time.
The new format was designed to compete with the Memory Stick, a DRM product that Sony released the prior year. It was mistakenly predicted that DRM features[51] would be widely used due to pressure from music and other media suppliers to prevent piracy.
The trademarked SD logo was originally developed for the Super Density Disc, which was the unsuccessful Toshiba entry in the DVD format war. This is why the D resembles an optical disc.
At the 2000 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) trade show, the three companies announced the creation of the SD Card Association (SDA) to promote SD cards. The association's headquarters are in California and it comprises some 30 companies that produce devices and content. Early samples of the SD Card were available in the first quarter of 2000, with production quantities of 32 and 64 MB cards available 3 months later.
[edit]Relation to MMC


Size comparison of various flash cards: SD, CompactFlash, MMC, xD
The SD cards changed the MMC design in several ways:
Asymmetrical slots in the sides of the SD card prevent inserting it upside down, while an MMC will go in most of the way but make no contact if inverted.
Most SD cards are 2.1 mm thick, compared to 1.4 mm for MMCs. The SD specification defines a card called Thin SD with a thickness of 1.4 mm, but they are rare, as the SDA went on to define even smaller form factors.
The card's electrical contacts are recessed beneath the surface of the card, protecting them from contact with a user's fingers.
The SD specification envisaged capacities and transfer rates exceeding those of MMC, and these have both grown over time. For a comparison table, see below.
Full-sized SD cards will not fit into the slimmer MMC slots, and there are other issues that affect the ability to use one format in a host device designed for the other.
[edit]Follow-on products
In March 2003, SanDisk Corporation announced the introduction of the miniSD and demonstrated it at CeBIT 2003.[52] The SDA adopted the miniSD card in 2003 as a small form factor extension to the SD card standard. While the new cards were designed especially for use in mobile phones, they are usually packaged with a miniSD adapter which enables compatibility with all devices equipped with a standard SD memory card slot.
At CTIA Wireless 2005, the SDA announced the small microSD form factor (and SDHC, with capacities in excess of 2 GB and a minimum sustained read and write speed of 17.6 Mbit/s). SanDisk had conceived microSD when its CTO and the CTO of Motorola concluded that current memory cards were too large for mobile phones. The card was originally called T-Flash, but just before product launch, T-Mobile sent a cease and desist order to SanDisk claiming that T-Mobile owned the trademark on T-(anything), and the name was changed to TransFlash. TransFlash and microSD cards are the same; each can be used in devices made for the other.[53] SanDisk induced the SDA to administer the microSD standard. The SDA approved the final microSD specification on July 13, 2005. Initially, microSD cards were available in capacities of 32, 64, and 128 MB.
In April 2006, the SDA released a detailed specification for the non-security related parts of the SD memory card standard and for the Secure Digital Input Output (SDIO) cards and the standard SD host controller.
In September, 2006, SanDisk announced the 4 GB miniSDHC.[54] Like the SD and SDHC, the miniSDHC card has the same form factor as the older miniSD card but the HC card requires HC support built into the host device. Devices that support miniSDHC will work with miniSD and miniSDHC, but devices without specific support for miniSDHC will work only with the older miniSD card.
In January 2009, the SDA announced the SDXC family, which supports cards up to 2 TB and speeds up to 300 Mbyte/s.
[edit]Openness of the standard


Dismantled microSD to SD adapter showing the passive connection from the microSD card slot on the bottom to the SD pins on the top
Like most memory card formats, SD is covered by numerous patents and trademarks. Royalties for SD card licences are imposed for manufacture and sale of memory cards and host adapters (1000 USD/year plus membership at 1500 USD/year), but SDIO cards can be made without royalties.
Early versions of the SD specification were available only after agreeing to a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that prohibited development of an open source driver. However, the system was eventually reverse-engineered, and free software drivers provided access to SD cards that did not use DRM. Since then, the (SDA) has provided a simplified version of the specification under a less restrictive license.[55] Although most open-source drivers were written before this, it has helped to solve compatibility issues.
In 2006, the SDA also released a simplified version of the specification of the host controller interface (as opposed to the specification of SD cards) and later also for the physical layer, ASSD extensions, SDIO, and SDIO Bluetooth Type-A, under a disclaimers agreement.[56] Again, most of the information had already been discovered and Linux had a fully free driver for it. Still, building a chip conforming to this specification caused the One Laptop per Child project to claim "the first truly Open Source SD implementation, with no need to obtain an SDI license or sign NDAs to create SD drivers or applications."[57]
The fact that the complete SD specification is proprietary mainly affects embedded systems and laptops, since users of desktop PCs generally read SD cards via USB-based card readers. These card readers present a standard USB mass storage interface to memory cards, thus separating the operating system from the details of the underlying SD interface. However, embedded systems (such as portable music players) usually gain direct access to SD cards and thus need complete programming information. Desktop card readers are themselves embedded systems; their manufacturers have usually paid the SDA for complete access to the SD specifications. Many notebook computers now include SD card readers not based on USB; device drivers for these essentially gain direct access to the SD card, as do embedded systems.
[edit]Technical details

[edit]Transfer modes
The physical interface comprises 9 pins, except that the miniSD card adds two unconnected pins in the center and the microSD card omits one of the two VSS (Ground) pins.
SD card pin assignment miniSD card pin assignment microSD card pin assignment

Various SD cards may support various combinations of the following bus types and transfer modes. The SPI bus and one-bit SD bus are mandatory for all SD families, as explained in the next section.
SPI: Serial Peripheral Interface Bus is primarily used by embedded microcontrollers. This bus type supports only a 3.3-volt interface.
One-bit SD: Separate command and data channels and a proprietary transfer format.
Four-bit SD: Uses extra pins plus some reassigned pins. UHS-I and UHS-II requires this bus type.
Once the host device and the SD card negotiate a bus interface, the usage of the numbered pins is the same for all three card sizes:
SPI Bus
Pin Name I/O Logic Description
1 nCS I PP Card Select (Neg True)
2 DI I PP Data In [MOSI]
3 VSS S S Ground
4 VDD S S Power
5 CLK I PP Clock [SCLK]
6 VSS S S Ground
7 DO O PP Data Out [MISO]
8 NC
nIRQ .
O .
OD NC (Memory Cards)
Interrupt (SDIO Cards)
9 NC . . NC
One-Bit SD Bus
Pin Name I/O Logic Description
1 NC . . NC
2 CMD I/O PP,OD Command, Response
3 VSS S S Ground
4 VDD S S Power
5 CLK I PP Clock
6 VSS S S Ground
7 DAT0 I/O PP Data 0
8 NC
nIRQ .
O .
OD NC (Memory Cards)
Interrupt (SDIO Cards)
9 NC . . NC
Four-Bit SD Bus
Pin Name I/O Logic Description
1 DAT3 I/O PP Data 3
2 CMD I/O PP,OD Command, Response
3 VSS S S Ground
4 VDD S S Power
5 CLK I PP Clock
6 VSS S S Ground
7 DAT0 I/O PP Data 0
8 DAT1
nIRQ I/O
O PP
OD Data 1. SDIO Cards share
with Interrupt Period
9 DAT2 I/O PP Data 2
Notes:
Direction is relative to card. I = Input, O = Output.
PP = Push-Pull logic, OD = Open-Drain logic.
S = Power Supply, NC = Not Connected (or logical high).
[edit]Interface


Inside a 512 MB SD card: NAND flash chip that holds the data (bottom) and SD controller (top)


Inside a 2 GB SD card: two NAND flash chips (top and middle), SD controller chip (bottom)


Inside an SDHC card
Command interface
SD cards and host devices initially communicate through a synchronous one-bit interface, where the host device provides a clock signal that strobes single bits into and out of the SD card. The host device thereby sends 48-bit commands and receives responses. The card can signal that a response will be delayed, but the host device can abort the dialogue.
Through issuing various commands, the host device can:
Determine the type, memory capacity, and capabilities of the SD card
Command the card to use a different voltage, different clock speed, or advanced electrical interface
Prepare the card to receive a block to write to the flash memory, or read and reply with the contents of a specified block.
The command interface is an extension of the MultiMediaCard (MMC) interface. SD cards dropped support for some of the commands in the MMC protocol, but added commands related to copy protection. By using only commands supported by both standards until determining the type of card inserted, a host device can accommodate both SD and MMC cards.
Electrical interface
All SD card families initially use a 3.3-volt electrical interface. On command, SDHC and SDXC cards switch to 1.8-volt operation.[39]
At initial power-up or card insertion, the host device selects either the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) bus or the one-bit SD bus by the voltage level present on Pin 1. Thereafter, the host device may issue a command to switch to the four-bit SD bus interface, if the SD card supports it. For various card types, support for the four-bit SD bus is either optional or mandatory.[39]
After determining that the SD card supports it, the host device can also command the SD card to switch to a higher transfer speed. Until determining the card's capabilities, the host device should not use a clock speed faster than 400 kHz. SD cards other than SDIO (see below) have a Default Speed clock rate of 25 MHz. The host device is not required to use the maximum clock speed that the card supports. It may operate at less than the maximum clock speed to conserve power.[39] Between commands, the host device can stop the clock entirely.
SDIO cards
The SDIO family comprises Low-Speed and Full-Speed cards. Both types of SDIO cards support SPI and one-bit SD bus types. Low-Speed SDIO cards are allowed to also support the four-bit SD bus; Full-Speed SDIO cards are required to support the four-bit SD bus. To use a SDIO card as a "combo card" (for both memory and I/O), the host device must first select four-bit SD bus operation. Two other unique features of Low-Speed SDIO are a maximum clock rate of 400 kHz for all communications, and the use of Pin 8 as "interrupt" to try to initiate dialogue with the host device.[58]
Ganging cards together
The one-bit SD protocol was derived from the MMC protocol, which envisaged the ability to put up to 3 cards on a bus of common signal lines. The cards use open collector interfaces, where a card may pull a line to the low voltage level; the line is at the high voltage level (because of a pull-up resistor) if no card pulls it low. Though the cards shared clock and signal lines, each card had its own chip select line to sense that the host device had selected it.
The SD protocol envisaged the ability to gang 30 cards together without separate chip select lines. The host device would broadcast commands to all cards and identify the card to respond to the command using its unique serial number.
In practice, cards are rarely ganged together because open-collector operation has problems at high speeds and increases power consumption. Newer versions of the SD specification recommend separate lines to each card.
Achieving higher card speeds
The SD specification defines four-bit-wide transfers. (The MMC specification supports this and also defines an eight-bit-wide mode.) Transferring several bits on each clock pulse improves the card speed. Advanced SD families have also improved speed by offering faster clock frequencies and double data rate (explained here).
[edit]File system
Like other types of flash memory card, an SD card of any SD family is a block-addressable storage device, in which the host device can read or write fixed-size blocks by specifying their block number.
MBR and FAT
Most SD cards ship preformatted with one or more MBR partitions, where the first or only partition contains a file system. This lets them operate like the hard disk of a personal computer. Per the SD card specification, an SD card is formatted with MBR and the following file system:
For SDSC cards: FAT16
For SDHC cards: FAT32
For SDXC cards: exFAT
Most consumer products that take an SD card will expect it to be partitioned and formatted in this way. The universal support for FAT16 and FAT32 allow the usage of SDSC and SDHC cards on most host computers with a compatible SD reader, to present the user with the familiar method of named files in a hierarchical directory tree.
On such SD cards, standard utility programs such as Mac OS X's "Disk Utility" or Windows' SCANDISK can be used to repair or retrieve corrupted data, and sometimes recover deleted files. Defragmentation tools for FAT file systems may be used on such cards. The resulting consolidation of files may provide a marginal improvement in the time required to read or write the file,[40] but not an improvement comparable to defragmentation of hard drives, where storing a file in multiple fragments may involve a time penalty to move between physical areas of the drive. Moreover, defragmentation performs writes to the SD card that count against the card's rated lifespan. The write endurance of the physical memory is discussed in the article on flash memory; newer technology to increase the storage capacity of a card currently provides worse write endurance.
When reformatting an SD card smaller than 4 GB, FAT16 should be used if the card is to be used in consumer devices. (FAT16 is also an option for 4 GB cards, but it requires the use of 64 kiB clusters, which are not widely supported.) FAT16 does not support cards above 4 GB.
The SDXC specification makes Microsoft's proprietary exFAT file system mandatory,[59] which is supported only by some proprietary operating systems.
Other file systems
Because the host views the SD card as a block storage device, the card does not require MBR partitions or any specific file system. The card can be reformatted to use any file system the operating system supports. For example:
Under Unix-like operating systems such as Linux or FreeBSD, SD cards can be formatted using the UFS, Ext2, Ext3, Ext4, btrFS, HFS Plus, or the ReiserFS file systems.
Under Mac OS X, SD cards can be partitioned as GUID devices and formatted with the HFS Plus file system.
Under Windows and some Unix systems, SD cards can be formatted using NTFS and, on later versions, exFAT.
Any recent version of the above can format SD cards using the UDF file system.
Additionally, an SD card called Live SD can contain an embedded operating system (such as Live USB). Computers that can bootstrap from an SD card (either using a USB adapter or inserted into the computer's flash media reader) instead of the hard disk drive may thereby be able to recover from a corrupted hard disk drive. A Live SD can be write-locked to preserve the system's integrity.
Risks of reformatting
Reformatting an SD card with a different file system, or even with the same one, may make the card slower, or shorten its lifespan. Some cards use wear leveling, in which frequently modified blocks are mapped to different portions of memory at different times, and some wear-leveling algorithms are designed for the access patterns typical of the file allocation table on a FAT16 or FAT32 device.[60] In addition, the preformatted file system may use a cluster size that matches the erase region of the physical memory on the card; reformatting may change the cluster size and make writes less efficient.
[edit]Power use
The power consumption of microSD cards varies by manufacturer, but appears to be in the range of 66-330 mW (20-100 mA at a supply voltage of 3.3 V). Specifications from TwinMos technologies list a maximum of 149 mW (45 mA) during transfer. Toshiba, on the other hand, lists 264-330 mW (80-100 mA).[61]
[edit]Storage capacity and incompatibilities

All SD cards let the host device determine how much information the card can hold, and the specification of each SD family gives the host device a guarantee of the maximum capacity a compliant card will report.
By the time the Version 2.0 (SDHC) specification was completed in June 2006,[62] vendors had already devised 2 GB and 4 GB SD cards, either as specified in Version 1.01, or by creatively reading Version 1.00. The resulting cards do not work correctly in some host devices.[63][64]
[edit]SDSC cards above 1 GB


4 GB SDSC card
A host device can ask any inserted SD card for its 128-bit identification string (the Card-Specific Data or CSD). In standard-capacity cards (SDSC), 12 bits identify the number of memory clusters (ranging from 1 to 4,096) and 3 bits identify the number of blocks per cluster (which decode to 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, or 512 blocks per cluster). The host device multiplies these figures (as shown in the following section) with the number of bytes per block to determine the card's capacity in bytes.
In SD version 1.00, the number of bytes per block was assumed to be 512. This permitted SDSC cards up to 4,096 × 512 × 512 = 1 GB, for which there are no known incompatibilities.
Version 1.01 let an SDSC card use a 4-bit field to indicate 1,024 or 2,048 bytes per block instead.[39] Doing so enabled cards with 2 GB and 4 GB capacity.
Early SDSC host devices that assume 512-byte blocks therefore will not fully support the insertion of 2 GB or 4 GB cards. In some cases, the host device can read data that happens to reside in the first 1 GB of the card. If the assumption is made in the driver software, success may be version-dependent. In addition, any host device might not support a 4 GB SDSC card, since the specification lets it assume that 2 GB is the maximum for these cards.
[edit]Storage capacity calculations
The format of the Card-Specific Data (CSD) register changed between version 1 (SDSC) and version 2.0 (which defines SDHC and SDXC).
Version 1
In Version 1 of the SD specification, capacities up to 2 GB are calculated by combining fields of the CSD as follows:
Capacity=(C_SIZE+1) × 2(C_SIZE_MULT + 2 + READ_BL_LEN)
Where: 0 <= C_SIZE <= 4095,
0 <= C_SIZE_MULT <= 7,
READ_BL_LEN is 9 (for 512 bytes/sector) or 10 (for 1024 bytes/sector)
Later versions state (at Section 4.3.2) that a 2 GB SDSC card shall set its READ_BL_LEN (and WRITE_BL_LEN) to indicate 1024 bytes, so that the above computation correctly reports the card's capacity; but that, for consistency, the host device shall not request (by CMD16) block lengths over 512 bytes.[39]
Versions 2 and 3
In the definition of SDHC cards in Version 2.0, the C_SIZE portion of the CSD is 22 bits and it indicates the memory size in multiples of 512 KB. (The C_SIZE_MULT field is removed and READ_BL_LEN is no longer used to compute capacity.) Two bits that were formerly reserved now identify the card family: 0 is SDSC; 1 is SDHC or SDXC; 2 and 3 are reserved.[39] Because of these redefinitions, older host devices do not correctly identify SDHC or SDXC cards nor their correct capacity.
SDHC cards are restricted to reporting a capacity not over 32 GiB.
SDXC cards are allowed to use all 22 bits of the C_SIZE field. An SDHC card that did so (reported C_SIZE > 65375 to indicate a capacity of over 32 GiB) would violate the specification. A host device that relied on C_SIZE rather than the specification to determine the card's maximum capacity might support such a card, but the card might fail in other SDHC-compatible host devices.
Capacity is calculated thus:
Capacity=(C_SIZE+1)*524288
where for SDHC 4112<=C_SIZE<=65375 (approx. 2 GB) < capacity < 32 GiB
for SDXC 65535<=C_SIZE 32 GiB <= capacity <= 2 TiB max.
Capacities above 4 GB can only be achieved by following Version 2.0 or later versions. In addition, capacities equal to 4 GB must also do so to guarantee compatibility.
[edit]Comparison to other flash memory formats

Overall, SD is less open than CompactFlash or USB flash memory drives; these are open standards which can be implemented free of payment for licensing, royalties, or documentation. (CompactFlash and USB flash drives may, however, require licensing fees for the use of the SDA's trademarked logos.)
However, SD is much more open than Memory Stick, for which no public documentation nor any documented legacy implementation is available. All SD cards can be accessed freely using the well-documented SPI bus.
xD cards are simply 18-pin NAND flash chips in a special package and support the standard command set for raw NAND flash access. Although the raw hardware interface to xD cards is well understood, the layout of its memory contents—necessary for interoperability with xD card readers and digital cameras—is totally undocumented. The consortium that licenses xD cards has not released any technical information to the public.
Comparison of technical features of MMC and SD card variants v t e
Type MMC RS-MMC MMC Plus SecureMMC SD SDIO miniSD microSD
SD Socket Yes Extender Yes Yes Yes Yes Adapter Adapter
Pins 7 7 13 7 9 9 11 8
Form factor thin thin/short thin thin thick (some) thick narrow/thin/short narrow/extra thin/short
Width 24 mm 24 mm 24 mm 24 mm 24 mm 24 mm 20 mm 11 mm
Length 32 mm 18 mm 32 mm 32 mm 32 mm 32 mm+ 21.5 mm 15 mm
Thickness 1.4 mm 1.4 mm 1.4 mm 1.4 mm 2.1 mm (some) 2.1 mm 1.4 mm 1 mm
SPI mode Optional Optional Optional Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
1-bit mode Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
4-bit mode No No Yes No Optional Optional Optional Optional
8-bit mode No No Yes No No No No No
Interrupts No No No No No Optional No No
Max clock rate 20 MHz 20 MHz 52 MHz 20 MHz? 208 MHz 50 MHz 208 MHz 208 MHz
Max transfer 20 Mbit/s 20 Mbit/s 416 Mbit/s 20 Mbit/s? 832 Mbit/s 200 Mbit/s 832 Mbit/s 832 Mbit/s
Max SPI transfer 20 Mbit/s 20 Mbit/s 52 Mbit/s 20 Mbit/s 50 Mbit/s 50 Mbit/s 50 Mbit/s 50 Mbit/s
DRM No No No Yes Yes N/A Yes Yes
User encrypt No No No Yes No No No No
Simplified spec Yes Yes No Not yet? Yes Yes No No
Membership cost JEDEC: $4400/yr, optional SD Card Association: $2000/yr, general; $4500/yr, executive
Specification cost Free ? Simplified spec: free
Full spec: free to members, $1000/yr to R&D non-members
Host license No No No No Yes $1000/yr
Card royalties Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes +$1000/yr Yes Yes
Open source compatible Yes Yes Yes? Yes? Yes Yes Yes Yes
Nominal operating voltage 3.3V 1.8V/3.3V 1.8V/3.3V[65][66] 1.8V/3.3V 3.3V 3.3V 3.3V 3.3V
Type MMC RS-MMC MMC Plus SecureMMC SD SDIO miniSD microSD
Table data compiled mostly from simplified versions of MMC and SDIO specifications and other data on SD card and MMC association web sites. Data for other card variations is interpolated.
Capacity limit in all SD/MMC formats appears to be 128 GB in LBA mode (28-bit sector address).[citation needed]
[edit]See also

Quote from cavan : test failed houston we have a problem

LOL
Boltman fixed it

PS: dont tell me you watched the NASA files about apollo 13 the other day?

Quote from boltman2007 : *snip*

I only posted to remind myself that I need to write a "tutorial" about SD cards Mind editing out your ridiculously long post?

p.s. sdcard.org has some very interesting reading material: https://www.sdcard.org/consumers/cards

The OP is nice but where are the sources? There are tons of misinformation about flash memory on the internet, how do I know this is not just one of those?

Oh and to who ever copied the entire wiki article, you fail.

Why the hell would you copy and paste and entire wiki article..

Quote from boltman2007 : *chop*

Mod alert sent, hopefully, they get rid of the spew

You can still open that long post but I filtered it for now so that it doesn't take up so much room in here. boltman2007 if you want to have it unfiltered and just edit it down a bit PM me and let me know.

Quote from Schooby : You can still open that long post but I filtered it for now so that it doesn't take up so much room in here. boltman2007 if you want to have it unfiltered and just edit it down a bit PM me and let me know.

Thanks!

Quote from LiquidRetro : The OP is nice but where are the sources? There are tons of misinformation about flash memory on the internet, how do I know this is not just one of those? Oh and to who ever copied the entire wiki article, you fail.

Thanks for being skeptical! You should always be wary of what people post on the Internet. Did you know 88% of statistics are made up on the spot?

As far as sources, its my own personal testing after many months (years?) of working with High Quality (and many, many, Low Quality SD cards).

Naturally, I am only 1 case scenario. I have a (small) variety of equipment, so I am depending on users to either a) backup or b) refute my claims.

I have available to me 1 x Asus Z68 and 1 x Gigabyte Z68 motherboard with USB 3.0 ports.
I also only have 1 USB 3.0 card reader (Rosewill from newegg), but I am working on getting more.
I have quite a few USB 2.0 card readers, as well as built-in readers from laptops and desktops.

Here are some examples where I refer to some benchmarks that I personally tested:
http://slickdeals.net/forums/show...ostcount=5
http://slickdeals.net/forums/show...stcount=12
http://slickdeals.net/forums/show...stcount=12

Let me know if you have any requests/questions/inquiries on any remarks

Any information on reliability of patriot ep series.

Quote from chuckynoris : Any information on reliability of patriot ep series.

It just came out, so not sure. But I've been using it for almost a couple weeks, and so far its been good

Just make sure you get the Patriot EP Series and NOT the LX or newer LX Pro Series

Any thoughts on the Sandisk Mobile Ultra microSD, class 10?

Newegg has it for $29.99