SanDisk and Sony announce SxS memory card for camcorders

Adam Turner
Monday, 16 April 2007 21:19

Business IT - Technology

SanDisk and Sony are teaming up to develop the high-speed SxS memory card format targeted at professional camcorders and non-linear video editing systems.

Announced at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show in Las Vegas, the SxS (S-by-S) memory card specification uses flash memory and complies with the ExpressCard industry standard.

SxS memory cards from SanDisk and Sony are expected to be available later in 2007 and Sony will adopt the format in its XDCAM EX series professional camcorders.

Sony's new PDW-F355 prosumer HD camcorder will be one of the first products to use the new cards. The camera will feature two card slots, and users will be able to record approximately 120 minutes of content on two 16 GB cards. Sony is planning to introduce 8GB and 16GB flash memory media initially.

SxS is the first native PCI Express solid-state storage media, with PCI Express offering a maximum data transfer speed of 2.5 gigabits per second - twice as fast as PC Card-based storage media. In addition, SanDisk and Sony have optimised the technology protocol for controlling communication between hardware and SxS memory cards to enable high-speed transfer of large files, such as high-definition video, to PCs for non-linear video-editing. The target transfer speed of SxS memory cards is 800 megabits per second.

The SxS memory card specification uses ExpressCard/34 modules (width: 34mm, height: 5mm, length: 75mm), half the size of PC Cards. This enables the design of professional camcorders that are smaller and lighter, while still offering high storage capacities.