SDXC: 2 TB SD cards coming

The SD card format has been with us a long time now (in tech years) and is the most widely adopted of all the flash-based memory cards. And if you thought that 16 and 32 GB SDHC capacities seemed generous – just wait till you see what’s next.

The SD card format has been with us a long time now (in tech years) and is the most widely adopted of all the flash-based memory cards. And if you thought that 16 and 32 GB SDHC capacities seemed generous – just wait till you see what’s next.

Developed by SD Association, SDXC (eXtended Capacity) is the latest and greatest SD card specification. It offers storage capacities up to 2 terabytes (TB) and read/write speeds up to 104 megabytes per second. A future revision is set to allow 300 megabytes per second.

In case you’re wondering just how much you could cram into a 2TB card, here’s an example: 100 HD movies, 60 hours of HD recording or 17,000 fine-grade photos. That’s a lot of media.

Of course, much like the previous change in spec from SD to SDHC, don’t expect your current SD-compatible devices to be able to play nicely with the newer SDXC spec. Even though the dimensions of the slot and card remain unchanged, new I/O software and possibly hardware will be needed inside the device in order to take advantage of the new spec’s higher capacity and speed.

No word yet on when the first devices able to exploit SDXC’s capabilities will be hitting store shelves.

Related: Full CES 2009 Coverage

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