Common Information
- unless otherwise indicated, all images to scale
| Card family | Standards organizations | Varieties | Entry date | Picture | Main features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CompactFlash | SanDisk | I | 1994 | Thinner (3.3 mm), flash only, now up to 256 GB, although standard goes up to 128 PB since CF 5.0 | |
| II | Thicker (5.0 mm), older flash, but usually Microdrives, up to 128 PiB | ||||
| SmartMedia | Toshiba | 3.3/5 V | 1995 | Very slim (45.0×37.0×0.76 mm3), no wear leveling controller, up to 128 MB. This particular example shows the write protect sticker (the silver disc). | |
| MultiMediaCard | Siemens AG, SanDisk | MMC | 1997 | Slim and small (24×32×1.4 mm3), up to 16 GB | |
| RS-MMC/MMC Mobile | 2003/2005 | Compact (24×18×1.4 mm3), up to 16 GB | |||
| MMCplus | 2005 | Compact (24×32×1.4 mm3), swifter, optional DRM, up to 16 GB | |||
| MMCmicro | 2005 | Subcompact (14×12×1.1 mm3), optional DRM, 16 MB to 4 GB | |||
| Secure Digital | Panasonic, SanDisk, Toshiba, Kodak | SD | 1999 | Small (32×24×2.1 mm3), DRM, up to 4 GB. (2 GB and 4 GB cards use larger block sizes and may not be compatible with some host devices. See Article) | |
| miniSD | 2003 | Compact (21.5×20×1.4 mm3), DRM, up to 4 GB. (2 GB and 4 GB cards use larger block sizes and may not be compatible with some host devices. See Article) | |||
| microSD | 2005 | Subcompact (11×15×1 mm3), DRM, up to 4 GB. (2 GB and 4 GB cards use larger block sizes and may not be compatible with some host devices. See Article) | |||
| SDHC | 2006 | Same build as SD but greater capacity and transfer speed, 4 GB to 32 GB (not compatible with older host devices). | |||
| miniSDHC | 2008 | Same build as miniSD but greater capacity and transfer speed, 4 GB to 32 GB. 8 GB is largest in early-2011 (not compatible with older host devices). | |||
| microSDHC | 2007 | Same build as microSD but greater capacity and transfer speed, 4 GB to 32 GB. 32 GB is largest in mid-2011. (not compatible with older host devices) | |||
| SDXC | 2009 | Same build as SD, but greater capacity and transfer speed, 32 GB and higher. Standard goes up to 2 TB (not compatible with older host devices). | |||
| microSDXC | 2009 | Same build as microSD, but greater capacity and transfer speed, 32 GB and higher. Standard goes up to 2 TB (not compatible with older host devices). | |||
| Memory Stick | Sony/SanDisk | Standard | 1998 | Slim and narrow (50×21.5×2.8 mm3), optional DRM, up to 128 MB | |
| PRO | 2003 | Slim and narrow (50×21.5×2.8 mm3), swifter, optional DRM, up to 4 GB | |||
| Duo | 2003 | Compact (31×20×1.6 mm3), optional DRM, up to 128 MB | |||
| PRO Duo | 2002-06 | Compact (31×20×1.6 mm3), optional DRM, up to 32 GB | |||
| PRO-HG Duo | 2007-08 | Compact (31×20×1.6 mm3), swifter, optional DRM, up to 32 GB | |||
| Micro (M2) | 2006-02 | Subcompact (15×12.5×1.2 mm3), optional DRM, up to 16 GB | |||
| XQD | Sandisk, Sony, Nikon, CFA | Standard | 2011-12 | High-capacity, high-speed standard using PCIe as interface | |
| xD | Olympus, Fujifilm | Standard | 2002-07 | Slim and small (20×25×1.78 mm3), electrically identical to SmartMedia, no wear-leveling controller, up to 512 MB | |
| Type M | 2005 | Slim and small (20×25×1.78 mm3) but slower read/write, no wear-leveling controller, up to 2 GB | |||
| Type H | 2005 | Slim and small (20×25×1.78 mm3) and swifter, no wear-leveling controller, up to 2 GB | |||
| USB flash drive | Various | USB 1.1/2.0/3.0 | 2000/1 | Universally compatible across all computer platforms, but greater size suits them better to file transfer/storage instead of use in portable devices, up to 1 TB. |
Read more about this topic: Comparison Of Memory Cards
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