Next generation CompactFlash QXD card specifications finalized

Professional photographers and amateur photogs alike are about to have a new choice in storage mediums thanks to the CompactFlash Association’s newly evolved memory card, the XQD.

The final specifications have now been released and the CompactFlash Association has launched the start of XQD.

Due to the growing demands of consumers to be able to take 1080P video with virtually every electronic device they own, the association has developed a storage card that should reach upwards of two and a half to five gigabits per second via PCI Express ports.

CompactFlash formats have been largely outnumbered in overall digital camera usage by the more universally accepted SD card formats, which are utilized in the majority of digital cameras and smart phones. CompactFlash cards have, however, held their own with superior speeds. They are supported by some digital video cameras and professional DSLRs.

SanDisk, Nikon, and Sony hope to popularize the new format so that XQD becomes the go to chip for anyone remotely serious about taking quality video or professional photographs.

The card is expected to be able to write data at a minimum 125 megabytes per second, the association said.

XQD could top out at 167 MBps, and with it the CompactFlash Association will release its premier Video Performance Guarantee (VPG) and logo for products that guarantee video capture over multiple capture files and across file system updates without dropping frames, enabling high quality 1080p capture at high frame rates with slow-motion video overcranking and undercranking.

XQD will begin licensing in 2012 and already has Nikon and Canon’s endorsement, as the professional photography community is optimistic about the array of possibilities that the high-speed memory cards will allow for.

Are you interested in XQD or do you think that SD cards will remain supreme?