Up to a hundred high-definition movies could soon be stored on a chip the size of a stamp. That is the claim of the SD Association that promotes memory card standards. It has announced a new series of SDXC extended capacity cards. The first are likely to provide 64 gigabytes of storage, but they are aiming to offer multi-terabyte capacities in five years.
A 2TB memory card could store 480 hours of high-definition movies, television or video. The Microsoft exFAT file system will be used to support the higher data capacities.
There are also plans to increase data reading and writing speeds to over 100Mb per second, with the aim of reaching over 300 Mb per second. Faster speeds will enable professional-level recording in compact consumer camcorders.
“With SDXC, consumers can quickly download higher quality content to their phones,
including games, video and music – giving consumers a richer media and content
experience,” said James Taylor, president of the SD Association. “The SD interface
already has proven itself valuable in mobile phones. Now, SDXC memory card
capabilities will spur further handset sophistication and boost consumer content
demand.”
Meanwhile, Sony and SanDisk have announced the development of a new Memory Stick format that will also ultimately offer storage of up to 2TB.
The ability to store hundreds of hours of video on portable devices in a convenient solid state form factor will undoubtedly further transform mobile media production and consumption.