SmartMedia Card
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SmartMedia Card was introduced in 1996 by Toshiba Corporation and was originally called SSFDC, for Solid State Floppy Disk Card. It looks like a miniature floppy disk and has about one third the size of a credit card. Since SmartMedia Card does not incorporate a controller chip makes it the thinnest, only 0.76 mm, and among the lightest flash memory cards available.
The lack of high storage capacity, max 128 MB, and the form factor are the reasons that SmartMedia Card is more or less phased out of the market. In 2002 the xD-Picture Card was introduced as the SmartMedia Card’s successor. Still SmartMedia Cards can be purchased, but very few new electronic devices are compatible to them, and are only manufactured by Samsung and Toshiba. They are used mainly in older digital cameras, primarily manufactured by Fuji, Olympus, Ricoh, Samsung, Toshiba, and for industrial use.
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There are two versions of SmartMedia Cards which are having different operating voltage. SmartMedia Cards can be found in either 3.3V or 5V. Since not all electronic devices support both 3.3 and 5 volt it is better to make sure that you select a card with the right operating voltage, otherwise your memory card will not work. The electronic device’s operating voltage can be found in its manual. Determining the operating voltage of a SmartMedia Card is simple. In cases the operating voltage is not indicated on the card you have to look at the top corners of the card. A notched top corner on the left side, when facing the front of the card, indicates a 5 volt card. A notched top corner on the right side, when facing the front of the card, indicates a 3.3 volt card.
The SmartMedia Card is supporting write protection but not with a switch that can be found in xD-Picture Card. For protecting the SmartMedia Card’s content from being erased or overwritten by accident, you need to put a sticker on the card’s write protect pad. The SmartMedia Card’s write protect pad is the circle that can be found in the middle of the card, when facing the front of the card. |
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Introduced |
1996 |
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Association |
Solid State Floppy Disk Card - SSFDC
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Dimensions in mm/inch (H x W x D) |
45 x 37 x 0.76 - 1.77 x 1.46 x 0.03 |
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Storage capacity
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Storage capacity in |
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Data transfer speed
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Read
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Up to 2.1 MB/sec – 14 X
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Write |
Up to 2.1 MB/sec – 14 X |
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Copyright protection |
No |
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Write protection switch |
Yes |
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Operating voltage |
3.3V and 5V |
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Remarks |
Operating voltage – Write protection |
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Employed by |
Older digital cameras – Industrial use |
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Adapters |
PC Card |
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Expansion modules – I/O |
No |
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Memory card durability |
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Memory card reliability |
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