The SanDisk Corporation has introduced the first 4-Gigabyte Compact flash
card to be both Type I and backwards compatible with all existing digital
camcorders, cameras or other device capable of using compact flash. The card features a three-position
switch to select between a 4GB FAT32 partition (if formatted in FAT32) or one of
the 2GB FAT16 partitions. Most
legacy compact-flash equipment either cannot take the fatter TYPE II cards (such
as the IBM microdrive) or handle capacities beyond 2GB due to FAT16's maximum
partition size limitation.
While
256MB compact flash cards may satisfy the majority of digital camera owner's,
the higher capacity plays an important role when it comes to portable digital
audio players/recorders and compact flash based digital camcorders. 4GB worth of recording would be enough
to fill a good portion of a DVD while leaving ample room for menus, extra clips
and other data.
 SanDisk
Corporation today introduced the first 4-gigabyte (GB) CompactFlash" card
that can be used in any CompactFlash digital camera or device. The new
card can store more than 2,000 high-resolution pictures, or more than
1,000 digital songs or 8 hours of MPEG 4 video.*
The 4GB SanDisk CompactFlash
card features an advanced design from SanDisk that allows it to operate in
cameras that use either the FAT16 or FAT32 file formats. It is the only
CompactFlash card of its capacity and compatibility level that is
available in the popular Type I format and fits into any CompactFlash
slot.
The new 4GB SanDisk
CompactFlash card was introduced at the annual Photo Marketing Association
trade show where SanDisk is demonstrating products in booth L-70, South
Hall, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Wes Brewer, senior director
of retail product marketing and business development at SanDisk, said,
"SanDisk had the opportunity to do a quick-release of a 4GB card back in
mid 2003. Instead, we chose to hold-off on shipping the card when we
realized that a large percentage of our customer base would not be able to
take advantage of the huge capacity due to limitations inherent in most
cameras today. Through careful analysis and design, we've come up with a
truly innovative way to break down these limitations-limitations that have
plagued our competitors in this space. Our patent-pending switch design
allows consumers to utilize the full capacity of the card."
Technological Breakthrough
for the Highest Compatibility
The 4GB SanDisk CompactFlash card
highlights a significant technological breakthrough in compatibility. The
File allocation table (FAT) is an area on storage media that contains
certain information such as the location of data files, their names, sizes
and so on. FAT16, the initial file allocation table that is used by a
number of current and most older digital cameras, cannot use CompactFlash
cards that are greater than 2GB. FAT32 uses a 32-bit number to point to
where the pieces of a file are stored and circumvents the 2GB capacity
limit to allow access to storage media up to several Terabytes. Today,
only a few manufacturers and camera models utilize the newer FAT32 File
format.
The new 4GB SanDisk
CompactFlash card features a three-position switch located in the
left-hand area of the card so consumers can switch between either a single
4GB (FAT32) volume or two separate 2GB (FAT16) volumes. The switchable 4GB
card ensures that users of cameras with either file format will be able to
use the new card. For maximum customer satisfaction, SanDisk will
initially ship the card in a FAT16 configuration - two FAT 16 partitions -
eliminating the need for most users to reposition the switch and
reformat. |
Compact
flash cards above 1-Gigabyte are currently very expensive, but once more devices
such as pocket size digital camcorders start making use of these, all it takes
is some popular demand to drive prices down. Unfortunately unlike mini DVD-R
camcorders, the content of these must be transferred to either DVD or legacy
(S-)VHS before the recording can be played back on standard consumer equipment
just like most other tape based camcorders.
Source: Music Industry News Network
