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[|DRC| Iceman]

http://www.digitalhome.ca/content/view/1580/60/

Tuesday, 26 September 2006
Since you can never have enough storage capacity for your digital camera or camcorder, SanDisk today introduced a 4-gigabyte Secure Digital High capacity (SDHC) memory card.

The new type of memory cards require an SDHC-compatible reader to transfer images from card to computer therefore Sandisk will also be bundling it's SDHC MicroMate reader with the new card. The SanDisk Ultra II SDHC card features write speeds of 9 megabytes per second and read speeds of 10MB/sec. The cards are targeted at digital photography enthusiasts with 5 mega-pixel or higher resolution digital cameras or videographers with camcorders that require significantly faster flash storage cards.

Consumers looking for more storage should note that although standard SD and SDHC cards look identical in size and shape, only SDHC-compatible cameras and devices will be able to accept the new SDHC cards. (see What is SDHC? at the bottom of this article) The company will differentiate its new cards with the new SDHC logo on the card and retail package.

The new SanDisk 4GB Ultra II SDHC card with Micromate reader will be available in October for a suggested selling price of U.S. $219.99 or CAD $246.

What is SDHC?
SD High Capacity (SDHCTM) card is the new SD memory card based on the SDA 2.00 specification, introduced by the SD Card Association. This new SDA 2.00 specification enables SD cards to reach higher capacities - 4GB-32GB.

Because SDHC cards are recognized by new SDHC host devices differently then standard SD cards, it is not backwards compatible with legacy SD format host devices. Standard SD cards are forward compatible with new SDHC host devices.

Legacy SD host devices and SD cards (up to 2GB) are FAT 16 file system compatible, while the new SD 2.00 file system specification defines a SD FAT 32 file system for the new SDHC host devices and cards.

Be aware of non-SDA 2.00 specification compliant SD 4GB cards on the market. If these non-compliant SD 4GB cards record data in a SDHC host, and are then used in a legacy SD host, issues and problems may occur. File system incompatibility, data corruption, and potentially you may actually loose the data/pictures.

In addition, if these noncompliant SD 4GB cards are inserted into a legacy SD host device, the host device may not recognize/utilize the card as 4GB, [and it] instead may read as a 2GB card. If the SD
4GB card does not have SDHC on it, it is not SD 2.00 compliant.

More SDHC compatible devices are expected to be available in the second half of 2006. To ensure compatibility, look for the SDHC logo on cards and host devices (cameras, camcorders, etc.)

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