What Is a SmartMedia Card?
SmartMedia cards are a type of flash memory storage primarily used in digital cameras. They were among the first of their kind to become commercially available.
Identification
The SmartMedia format consists of regular memory chips in a plastic casing that interface with a simple controller unit for connecting with external devices. Cards are thin and measure 45 mm X 37 mm. Written on the face of the card are the letters "ID" and a number signifying the amount of storage.
History
Most development work on SmartMedia technology was done by Toshiba between 1994 and 1996, when the format went on sale. A group of companies, mainly in the electronics and optics industries, later joined. By 2000, this was the biggest storage medium for then-new digital cameras.
Significance
By late 1990s standards, SmartMedia cards offered an affordable and sizable storage medium for mass market devices such as cameras. Portability was good compared with other mediums, which is why SmartMedia was even considered a replacement for floppy disks.
Types
The most common memory sizes are 16 MB, 32 MB, 64 MB and 128 MB, which is also the effective maximum available.
Considerations
As digital devices grew in capability and shrunk in size, SmartMedia cards proved both too limited in terms of capacity and physically bulky. Competing standards soon replaced them, with the last commercial manufacturing of the format taking place in 2003. This is therefore a "dead" standard.
Features
Within their time frame, SmartMedia cards had impressive specs---for example, a transfer rate of 2 MB/second made them highly competitive compared to floppies, which were the point of reference for Toshiba at the time.They also claim an impressive 10-year life span.
Tags: SmartMedia cards, digital cameras, storage medium