SanDisk, Sony and Nikon proposed Industry Standards for Next-Generation High-Speed Memory Card Format
PRESS RELEASE:
Companies Jointly Develop New Specifications to Meet Needs of Professional Photography and Video Markets
Milpitas, Calif., November 29, 2010-SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), Nikon Corporation and Sony Corporation today announced the joint development of a set of specifications that addresses the future requirements of professional photography and video markets. The three companies proposed the specifications to the CompactFlash® Association (CFA)1, the international standards organization, with the intent to standardize the format.
Professional photography and High Definition (HD)2 video applications require a new generation of memory cards capable of processing significantly larger files. To address the imaging industry’s future speed and capacity demands, SanDisk, Nikon and Sony proposed a new card specification whose performance and storage capabilities surpass those of existing memory cards. Once accepted, the new format will enable exciting new possibilities in the professional imaging and video markets.
The proposed specifications achieve data transfer rates of up to 500 megabytes per second (MB/sec)3 (theoretical maximum interface speed) using the highly versatile PCI Express4 interface. The increased speeds will enable imaging and video applications that could not be accomplished using the current CompactFlash specification’s Parallel ATA (PATA)5 interface. CF6.0, released in November 2010, offers maximum performance of up to 167MB/sec.
The new specifications’ faster speeds enable continuous burst shooting of massive RAW images. The enhanced performance also allows users to quickly transfer storage-intensive high-resolution photos and videos from the card to a computer. The specifications combine high-speed data transfer with low power consumption via a power scaling system to extend battery life.
In addition to industry-leading performance capabilities, the new memory card specifications also meet the future capacity and durability requirements of professional imaging applications. The proposed new specifications have the potential to extend theoretical maximum capacities beyond two terabytes (TB)6, making them especially useful for high resolution images and HD video applications. Similar in size to a CompactFlash® card, the new specifications’ access control function and highly durable form factor produce a combination of physical ruggedness and reliability that is indispensable for professional usage models.
“This ultra high-speed media format will enable further evolution of hardware and imaging applications, and widen the memory card options available to CompactFlash users such as professional photographers,” said Mr. Shigeto Kanda of Canon, chairman of the board, CFA. “This next generation format is expected to be widely adapted to various products, including those other than high-end DSLRs.”
“The ultra high-speed media, which will be realized by this new card format, will expand the capability of digital SLR cameras and other professional digital imaging equipment,” said Mr. Kazuyuki Kazami, operating officer, vice president and general manager, development headquarters, imaging company, Nikon Corporation.
Via Sandisk
AVESTA
3 years ago |I love how Canon isn’t on this panel
shu
3 years ago |Because Canon is the chief chairman of CFA.
Jesse
3 years ago |Here goes Sony with her new format again~~~
Rob
3 years ago |TBH partnering with SanDisk and Nikon is a very smart move. You stick a card slot for that new card in the latest Sony & Nikon bodies and you’ll see Canon follow suit.
Sky_walker
3 years ago |Canon as a member of CFA will get access to it anyway, without doing any work…. life’s unfair.
Jesse
3 years ago |True. But nowadays, more and more DSLRs are adopting SD cards, even in mid-range models where they utilized SD with no CF which makes me worries.
Don’t get me wrong, I love CF card and I have a few lying around. Sometimes getting support from developers/manufacturer doesn’t seems to be enough whereby the consumer demand is the decisive factors. Take PCMCIA port for instance, every laptops got one but not much people reall used it or know about it.
So, I hope other than providing the best tech spec, they should really do well on their marketing and educating the consumers.
contraspirit
3 years ago |Good point. Would be nice to have a CF-compatible new format.
00aeiou00
3 years ago |I personally would want to see cheap CF cards work with the sonys. Sandisk cards are great but cost an arm and leg whereas others are cheap but break. Also Im not really convinced we need faster cards, check out this article on dyxum http://bit.ly/gaFyDS it shows very little difference between super fast and slow read cards.
Cheers, Josh
Sky_walker
3 years ago |I’ve got 2 cheap CF cards (kingston and some… PIQ or something like that) both work perfectly for nearly 3 years now.
Also the CF cards performance is VERY limited by DSLR write/read speed performance. That’s the field for improvements, though it also makes production costs greater.
erwinkfoto
3 years ago |Backward compatible, please
Arthur
3 years ago |Retrocompatibility of new cards would be nice, but we can only dream. Also, buffer size and processor speed are the rate limiting steps at this point. Sony will have to double the size of the power cell and put a quad Bionz in their cameras to utilize these cards fully.
Adi
3 years ago |I highly doubt it will be backward compatible as the interface is totally different than old PATA. They will need to map somehow the pins for 2 different interfaces. They only speak about “same size”. Most likely new devices which can use this card will be able to use the older card also ( more cost effective to remap the pins on the reader side). So new devices which can use the new card will be able to use (maybe) the old CF alos but old devices will not be able to access the new cards. Same as with SD/SDHC/SDXC. Anyway I expect this cards on PRO devices only as consumer and prosumer ones all migrated to SD/SDXC already.
Adi
3 years ago |Just one more thought.I think the main target is a standardized high speed card to replace solid state ones in proffesional cameras. Pro camera use now proprietary solid state cards, each manufacturer has his own type (like Panasonic P2). Again, quite high level cameras. They hope that this will drop the cost as proprietary formats are very expensive now.
LEdgars
3 years ago |New standard exceed needs of current cameras several times. I think even 40MB/s is enough for 24Mpix cameras at max frame rate 5fps (A900). New standard could be suitable for 100MPix cameras at 15fps.
Sky_walker
3 years ago |Think about 4k video.
Mark
3 years ago |I think Compact Flash still has a long life ahead of it. Medium format digital cameras mostly use Compact Flash.
What makes the most sense is for the cameras that come out that offer dual card slots to have one of each, Compact Flash and SD.
My 2 cents.
byebyecf
2 years ago |just hope the new format ditches the pins. I bent one in my reader once