Does your camera use SD cards? Have you seen that you can expand the memory of your mobile phone using a micro SD card ? This format triumphs in many devices, but you may not be clear about what it is or what they are for. If so, at tuexperto.com we have prepared this short guide to keep you up to date.
What is an SD card?
An SD card, or any of its derivatives, is a small card covered in plastic where photos, music, videos and any type of file or data can be stored. Like a hard disk or a USB memory , we can record and erase the data found on it as many times as we want. Today we can find them in three different formats: SD, miniSD and microSD. The difference between each of these formats is the size they occupy and the devices in which they can be used.
This format was invented by Panasonic and its acronym stands for Secure Digital . Over time they have been gaining in capacity, and today we can find cards of up to 64 GB or even more . On a card like this, we could store about 280 hours of MP3 music, or more than 13,000 JPEG photos.
Although they are still known as SD cards, in reality most of the ones we handle today are actually SDHC ( Secure Digital High Capacity). They are an evolution of the first SD with greater capacity and faster read speeds.
What is an SD card for?
Well as you have been able to deduce, an SD card is used to store files and exchange them. These cards are small, easily transportable and very light. It is the ideal format to insert into another device that generates files, and to be able to transport them and pass them to others. In addition, it is a universal format, which is not associated with any brand. In this way, all manufacturers feel comfortable using it.
Another point in favor is the price . SD cards are manufactured by many different companies, so there is great competition that makes them cheaper .
Where can we find an SD, miniSD or microSD card?
They are one of the most popular formats right now, and can be found on almost any device. Photo cameras, mobile phones, computers, tablets or game consoles. The cameras were their first battlefield. After suffering for years with the different formats of each brand, the SD card has become the almost universal storage of compact cameras.
Mobile phones deserve special mention . In these, it is the smallest version, the microSD that triumphs. Many smartphones make up for the lack of internal storage with the simple gesture of including a microSD slot . In this way, the user can fill the phone memory as many times as he wants without having to delete any files. In fact, one of the most common criticisms made of the famous iPhone is precisely the absence of this possibility.
How do you use an SD, miniSD or microSD card?
If you don't know what type of card your mobile phone, camera or any other device uses , you just have to look carefully at the manual or search tuexperto.com . They will surely tell you the type of card that works in your case. And they will even tell you the capacity limit of the card to use.
Finally, the other virtue of this format is how easy it is to use . Almost all computers sold today have a built- in card reader that recognizes an SD card . In case that is not the case, the price of a card reader does not exceed 10 or 15 euros , and it is easily connected via USB , a port that all computers have. The operation is very simple: the card is removed from the device (camera, smartphone etc.), it is inserted into the reader and instantly the computer, whether Windows or Mac, reads and plays it.
As you can see, the success of SD memory is based on how cheap and simple they are. Right now they are the most widespread memory card format, and their reign does not seem to be faltering. However, new devices demand ever greater capacities. If the SD memories are not adapted and enlarged, another format will quickly appear to overshadow them.