Solid-state
memory cards
are a miniature version of the RAM chips in your PC.
SmartMedia and CompactFlash are perhaps the most common; the latter is also available in the guise of IBMs Microdrive, which contains a tiny hard disk offering a much higher (GigaBytes) capacity.
Sonys DSCs use a proprietary format called Memory Stick, which is becoming a very popular choice for people who own a number of Sony products. Sonys latest TVs, for example, have a MemoryStick slot to instantly display still images.
Other common formats include MultiMediaCards (MMC) and SecureDigital (SD).
An intriguing new format is the xD card, jointly developed by Fujifilm and Olympus. This holds out the promise of truly vast digital storage and the benefit of ultra-quick operation. This makes it worth considering for anyone who has been frustrated by the few seconds it takes some DSCs, especially with high-capacity memory cards, to initialise after first switching on.
Flash memory Cards | |
