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XD-Picture Card

{{multiple issues|

{{essay-like|date=May 2011}}

{{lead too short|date=June 2016}}

{{lowercase|title=xtreme digital Picture Card}}

}}

{{short description|Memory card format}}

{{infobox media

| title =

| name = xD-Picture

| logo = XD-Picture Card Logo.svg

| image = File:XD card 16M Fujifilm front.png

| caption = A 16 MB Fujifilm xD Card

| encoding =

| type = Memory card

| capacity = Maximum 512 MB (original)
maximum 2 GB (Type M/M+, Type H)

| owner = Olympus, Fujifilm

| use = Digital cameras, voice recorders

| dimensions = 20 mm × 25 mm × 1.78 mm

| weight = 2.8 g

| released = July 2002

| discontinued = Fijufilm ended support in 2009 and Olympus early 2010

}}

The xD-Picture Card is an obsolete flash memory card format, used in digital cameras made by Olympus, Fujifilm, and Kodak between 2002 and 2009. xD cards were manufactured with capacities of 16 MB{{efn|reference=one megabyte (1 MB) is equal to one million bytes (10002 B)}} up to 2 GB.{{efn|reference=one gigabyte (1 GB) is equal to one billion bytes (10003 B)}}[https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20050310005180/en/SanDisk-Introduces-Gigabyte-xD-Picture-Card-New-High-Megapixel SanDisk Introduces One Gigabyte xD-Picture Card; New High-Megapixel Olympus and Fuji Cameras Spark Demand for High-Capacity xD-Picture Cards] The standard was phased out in the late 2000s in favour of the SD card, which had been its primary competitor.{{Cite web|url=https://www.diyphotography.net/memory-cards-past-present-future-need-know-different-card-formats/|title = Memory cards past, present and future – What you need to know about the different card formats|date = 7 December 2017}}

History

The cards were developed by Olympus and Fujifilm, and introduced into the market in July 2002. Toshiba Corporation and Samsung Electronics manufactured the cards for Olympus and Fujifilm. xD cards were sold under other brands, including Kodak, SanDisk, PNY, and Lexar, but were not branded with the respective companies' logos, except for Kodak. Previously, xD competed primarily with Secure Digital (SD) cards, CompactFlash (CF), and Sony's Memory Stick. Because of its higher cost and limited usage in products other than digital cameras, xD lost ground to SD, which is broadly used by cellular phones, personal computers, digital audio players and many other digital cameras.

Olympus began to move away from the xD format with the mid-2009 announcement of the E-P1 camera, which supported only Secure Digital memory cards.{{cite web|author=Olympus America Inc. – CCS Department |url=http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1461&page=specs |title=Archived Products > E-P1 |publisher=Olympusamerica.com |access-date=2011-07-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222202105/http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1461&page=specs |archive-date=December 22, 2010 | quote= Memory: SD Memory Card(SDHC compatible) [xD cards are not included in entry]}} As of Spring 2010, all new Olympus cameras announced at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show and Photo Marketing Association International Trade Show can use SD cards.{{cite web | url = http://www.olympusamerica.com/oai_HeadlinesDetails.asp?pressNo=727 | title = The New Olympus FE Series Just May Be The World's Smartest Entry-Level Cameras | publisher = Olympusamerica.com | date = 2010-01-07 | access-date = 2011-07-05 }}{{cite web | url = http://www.olympusamerica.com/oai_HeadlinesDetails.asp?pressNo=733 | title = Return From Life's Everyday Adventures With High Definition Proof: The New Olympus STYLUS TOUGH-3000 | publisher = Olympusamerica.com | date = 2010-01-07 | access-date = 2011-07-05 }}{{cite web | url = http://www.olympusamerica.com/oai_HeadlinesDetails.asp?pressNo=734 | title = Are You Ready For Your Closeup? Three Olympus Stylus Cameras Zoom In With Style | publisher = Olympusamerica.com | date = 2010-01-07 | access-date = 2011-07-05 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.olympusamerica.com/oai_pressDetails.asp?pressNo=740 |title=New Olympus Stylus Tough Cameras Dare To Go Where Other Point-And-Shoots Fear To Tread |publisher=Olympus America |date=February 2, 2010 |access-date=2011-07-05}}{{cite web|url=http://www.olympusamerica.com/oai_pressDetails.asp?pressNo=741 |title=Extreme Power In A Portable Package: Olympus SP Series Ultra-Zoom Cameras Delivers Up To 30X Wide Angle Optical Zoom |publisher=Olympus America |date=February 2, 2010 |access-date=2011-07-05}}{{cite web |url=http://www.olympusamerica.com/oai_pressDetails.asp?pressNo=742 |title=Powerfully Simple: Introducing The Incredible Olympus PEN E-PL1 Camera |publisher=Olympus America |date=February 3, 2010 |access-date=2011-07-05 |archive-date=2011-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606223624/http://www.olympusamerica.com/oai_pressDetails.asp?pressNo=742 |url-status=dead }} This changeover to the SD card format has never been officially announced by Olympus Corporation. The higher-end DSLR cameras such as the E-3 and E-5 among others continue to use CompactFlash cards as well. Some Olympus cameras made between 2008-2009 support the Olympus MASD-1 adapter. This adapter has a slot which accepts a microSD card. This adapter only physically fits in certain compatible Olympus cameras.{{Cite web |date=2009-01-13 |title=Compatible microSD / microSDHC Card Tables |url=https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/448319.pdf |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=Olympus Digital Imaging}}

Fuji released its last digital camera accepting that card, namely Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR (a variant of 2008 FinePix F100fd), in Q2 2009.

Comparison with rival formats

Amazon Best Sellers in xD-Picture Cards reports no products offered with a Date First Available since 4 August 2009.{{cite web |title=Best Sellers: Best xD-Picture Cards |url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/pc/15874191/ |website=Amazon |access-date=6 September 2021}}{{ASIN|B0000YVEHE}}

= Advantages =

= Disadvantages =

  • File:Sticker on box of Olympus FE-370 showing compatability with new Olympus MASD-1 XD-to-microSD attachment.jpg box showing the camera is compatible with xD cards and the MASD-1 xD to microSD adapter. Olympus abandoned this approach less than two years later]]Card format is proprietary to Fujifilm and Olympus, just as the Memory Stick format is to Sony. No public documentation was available (see below for reverse-engineering results). In contrast, the CompactFlash format is described by completely open and free specifications.
  • Has not kept up with the transfer rate, or speed, of other cards, notably CompactFlash and SD, and the later versions of Memory Stick. The fastest xD card offers less than 10% of the speed of 2009-era CompactFlash cards.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}
  • Directly derived from the SmartMedia card. Thus, has no wear leveling controller. May have a shorter life span than comparable cards with FTL wear levelers if the file system used does not take into account wear leveling.
  • Generally more expensive than other memory card types. {{as of|2009|9}}, 2 GB (2000 MB) xD cards' retail prices were approximately three times those of same-capacity SD cards.
  • Many newer Olympus and Fujifilm digital cameras accept the more popular SD or CF cards, in addition to or instead of the xD format.
  • Small maximum capacity relative to other memory card formats. First-generation xD cards (Type S) have a maximum capacity of only 512 MB. Type M expands the theoretical maximum capacity to 8 GB (8000 MB), but {{as of|2009|1|lc=on}}, there are no cards available with capacity greater than 2 GB.
  • Although physically smaller than Secure Digital and Memory Stick cards, xD cards are larger than these competitors' reduced-size variants (microSD and Memory Stick Micro).
  • Less widely supported by camera, card reader, and accessory manufacturers than other formats. {{As of|2010|01}}, SD cards (and variants) are supported by all consumer-level digital cameras from major manufacturers.

Type M/M+ and Type H cards

File:XD cards, the MASD-1 microSD card attachment and a microSD card.jpg

The original xD cards (Type S) were available in 16 MB to 512 MB capacities. The Type M card, released in February 2005,{{cite web|url=http://www.steves-digicams.com/pr/olympus_02152005_1gbxd_pr.html |title=Olympus 1 GiB xD |publisher=Steves-digicams.com |date=2005-02-15 |access-date=2011-07-05}} uses multi-level cell (MLC) architecture to achieve a theoretical storage capacity of up to 8 GB. {{As of|2010|June}}, Type M cards are available in sizes from 256 MB to 2 GB. However, the Type M suffers from slower read/write speeds than the original cards.

The Type H card, first released in November 2005,{{cite web|url=http://www.steves-digicams.com/pr/olympus_11282005_typeh-xd_pr.html |title=Olympus Type H xD |publisher=Steves-digicams.com |date=2005-11-28 |access-date=2011-07-05}} offers higher data rates than Type M cards (theoretically as much as 3 times faster). As of 2008, Type H cards were only available in 256 MB, 512 MB, 1000 MB, and 2000 MB capacities. Both Fuji and Olympus discontinued the production of Type H cards in 2008, citing high production costs.{{cite web | url = http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08012301olympusxd.asp | title = Faster xD Picture Cards launched: Digital Photography Review | publisher = Dpreview.com | date = 2008-01-23 | access-date = 2011-07-05 }}

The Type M+ card, first released in April 2008,{{cite web |url=http://www.olympuspresspass.com/press_pass_cut/opp_press_details.asp?pressNo=578 |title=Olympus Introduces New High-Speed xD-Picture Card For Digital Cameras |publisher=Olympus Press Pass |date=2008-01-22 |access-date=2011-07-05 |archive-date=2009-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220024015/http://www.olympuspresspass.com/press_pass_cut/opp_press_details.asp?pressNo=578 |url-status=dead }} offers data rates 1.5 times that of Type M cards. As of 2008, cards are available only in 1 and 2 GB capacities.

Olympus says that its xD cards support special "picture effects" when used in some Olympus cameras, though these software features are not intrinsically hardware-dependent. Type H and M+ cards however, are required in newer models to capture video at high rate (640×480 @ 30fps). Due to changes in the cards' storage architecture, newer Type M and H cards may have compatibility issues with some older cameras (especially video recording). Compatibility lists are available for Olympus: Olympus America's{{cite web |url=http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_xdcompatibility.asp |title=FE-Series : xD Compatibility Chart |publisher=Olympus America |access-date=2011-07-05 |archive-date=2011-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629200507/http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_xdcompatibility.asp |url-status=dead }} and Fujifilm's.{{cite web|url=http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital/accessories/card/index.html#compati |title=Card Adapter |publisher=Fujifilm Global |access-date=2011-07-05}} Newer cards are incompatible with some card readers.

Theoretical transfer speeds

{{unsourced section|date=July 2020}}

Pictures may be transferred from a digital camera's xD card to a personal computer by plugging the camera into the PC by a USB or IEEE 1394 cable, or by removing the card from the camera and inserting it into a card reader. In both cases, the computer sees the card as a mass storage device containing image files, although software or firmware can alter this representation. Card readers may be integrated into the PC or attached by cable. Adapters are available to allow an xD picture card to be plugged into other readers (and in some cases cameras), including PC card, parallel port, CompactFlash and SmartMedia. A chart showing which sizes and types of xD cards were available can be found below.

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
rowspan=2 | Type

! rowspan=2 | Write speed
(MiB/s)

! rowspan=2 | Read speed
(MiB/s)

! colspan=8 | Capacities available (MB)

16326412825651210002000
rowspan="2" | Standard

| 1.3

| 5

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

3

| 5

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

M

| 2.5

| 4

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

H

| 4

| 5

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

M+

| 3.75

| 6

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

Reverse-engineered specifications

Detailed specifications are tightly controlled by Olympus and Fujifilm, which charge licensing fees and royalties and require non-disclosure agreements in exchange for the technical information required to produce xD-compatible devices.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070703131155/http://www.xd-picture.com/obtain/index.html How to obtain xD-Picture Card License]}}

The memory format used is not well documented. It is difficult to study it directly, since most camera devices and most USB card readers do not provide direct access to the flash memory. Since the cards are controller-less, cameras and card readers must perform wear leveling and error detection. They normally hide the portion of the memory which stores this information (among other things) from higher level access.{{cite web|url=http://www.elinux.org/JuiceBox_UMDCart |title=JuiceBox UMDCart |publisher=eLinux.org |date=2011-04-11 |access-date=2011-07-05}}

However, a few models of xD card readers based on the Alauda chip do allow direct access (bypassing the above mechanisms) to an xD card's flash memory. These readers have been reverse-engineered and Linux drivers have been produced by the Alauda Project,{{cite web |title=Alauda Linux Driver Development |url=http://alauda.sourceforge.net/wikka.php?wakka=HomePage |website=AlaudaProject |publisher=SourceForge |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924231401/http://alauda.sourceforge.net/wikka.php?wakka=HomePage |archive-date=2010-09-24 |quote=Project complete: merged into upstream Linux kernel. |url-status=dead}} which has documented the on-chip data structures of the xD card.{{cite web |title=XD Media Specification |url=http://alauda.sourceforge.net/wikka.php?wakka=XdMedia |website=AlaudaProject |publisher=SourceForge |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100925201651/http://alauda.sourceforge.net/wikka.php?wakka=XdMedia |archive-date=25 September 2010 |url-status=dead}} According to this information, xD card headers are similar to those used by SmartMedia, and include chip manufacturer information.

Raw hardware

{{Original research|section|date=July 2011}}

File:XD card 16M Fujifilm back.jpg

File:XD Card to USB adapter with cards.jpg

At the raw hardware level, an xD card is simply an ordinary NAND flash integrated circuit in an unusual package. Comparing the pinout of an xD card{{cite web|url=http://pinouts.ru/Memory/xd_card_pinout.shtml |title=xD card pinout |publisher=Pinouts.ru |access-date=2011-07-05}}{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20150206212550/http://trcdatarecovery.com/docs/NandDesignGuide.pdf NAND Design Guide]}} to the pinout of a NAND flash chip in a standard TSOP package, one finds a nearly one-to-one correspondence between the active pins of the two devices. xD cards share this characteristic with the older SmartMedia cards, which are also basically raw NAND flash chips, albeit in a larger package.

xD and SmartMedia cards can be used by hobbyists as a convenient source of NAND flash memory chips for custom projects. For example, the Mattel Juice Box PMP can be booted into Linux using a modified cartridge containing an xD card with a boot image written on it. Additionally, SmartMedia and xD card readers can be used to read the data from NAND flash chips in electronic devices, by soldering leads between the chip and the card reader.{{cite web|url=http://brandonu.googlepages.com/camcorderhack |title=xD NAND Flash Reader |publisher=Brandonu.googlepages.com |access-date=2011-07-05}}{{cite web|url=http://www.uchobby.com/index.php/2007/05/05/read-embedded-flash-chips/ |title=Read Embedded Flash Chips |publisher=Uchobby.com |date=2007-05-05 |access-date=2011-07-05}}

Panoramic mode

Some Olympus cameras offer camera-based panoramic processing. In those cameras that support both xD and CompactFlash cards, panoramic processing only works with images stored on the xD card, if installed. Newer Olympus cameras have neither xD cards nor this restriction.

Unsubtantiated reports claim that some cameras such as the E-450 only support panoramic processing when using Olympus branded xD cards. The model numbers have not been documented. In this case, there appears to be a workaround: it appears that the card manufacturer information is simply stored in the flash memory, in the Card Information Structure. Thus, it is possible to alter another brand of xD card to present itself as Olympus xD card by accessing the raw flash memory. This can be done by using a hacked device driver for a USB card reader.{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/roberthaus/pan/ |title=Olympus Panorama Header |publisher=Robert Haus |date=2007-12-09 |access-date=2011-07-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027054358/http://geocities.com/roberthaus/pan/ |archive-date=October 27, 2009 |quote=Restore the panorama feature on Olympus smartmedia, with a hex editor, a Zio USB smartmedia reader, the smprep.exe program that is installed with it, and Windows 98/ME/2000.}}

See also

Notes

{{notelist}}

References

{{Reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite web|title=Introduction of OLYMPUS PEN E-P1 Micro Four Thirds interchangeable lens system camera|publisher=Olympus Corporation|date=16 June 2009|url=https://www.olympus-global.com/en/news/2009a/nr090616ep1e.html|archive-date=16 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100416084724/https://www.olympus-global.com/en/news/2009a/nr090616ep1e.html|quote=June 16, 2009 [..] Olympus [..] is pleased to announce the OLYMPUS PEN E-P1}}

}}

External links

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20110725000245/http://www.allpinouts.org/index.php?title=XD-Picture_Card XD-Picture Card Connector Pinout] allpinouts.org, 2011-07-25
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20100924231401/http://alauda.sourceforge.net/wikka.php?wakka=HomePage Alauda XD-Picture Card Linux Driver Development]

{{Memory Cards}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xd-Picture Card}}

Category:Solid-state computer storage media

Category:Computer-related introductions in 2002

Category:Discontinued media formats